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University of Nigeria Research Publications
OKUDE U. Agwu
Aut
hor
PG/M.ED82/1327
Title
A Study of the Administrative Management Problem of the Imo State’ Colleges Between 1976 and 1984
Facu
lty
Education
Dep
artm
ent
Education
Dat
e0
July, 1984
Sign
atur
e
T I T L E P A G E
A STUDY O F T H E A D M I N I S T R A T I V E IWNAGEMENT PROBLEMS
O F T H E I M O S T A T E TEACHERS ' COLLEGES
BETWEEN 1976 AND 1984
A RESEARCH PROJECT
f p h P R E S E N T E D T O THE DEPARTMENT O F
EDUCATION, U P J I V E R S I T Y O F N I G E R I A
!XSUKKA
I N P A R T I A L F U L F I L M E N T O F T H E
REQUIREMZNTS F O R T H E DEGREE O F
MASTER O F EDUCATION (M.ED) I N
EDUCATIONAL A D M I N I S T F A T I O N AND
P L A N N I N G
OKUDE U. AGWU ( P G / M . E D ~ ~ ~ ~ I 327)
J U L Y , 1984
T I TI-1L;SI.S H '.S X J T O D FOR THC
DdPARTIIS:i'.J'T OF XDlJC AQI~N
iii
DEDICATED TO
FOR
HER PATIENCE AND UNDERSTANDING
DURING THE PERIOD O F T i T S RESEARCH
V U l e I claim re spans ib i l i - ty f o r t he shor t -
comings of Lhic work, I have r e l i e d very much on
-the a s s i s t a n c e of mmy incl ividuals wi-thou% whom
't h i s p ro jec't would n o t have been ac compli shed. I
have -the p l e c s u r c t h e r e f o r e , t o express my
gra-Litude a n d indeb'tednesn -to a l l ... of 'them.
My .thankc ,md deep apprec ia t ion go 'to
riy p r o j e c t acivioer, D r . P. A. Bzeoclia of t h e
'Jniversi ' ty of Niger ia f o r l i i r , u n t i r i n g e f f o r t s
i n providing me wit11 exper't advice and relevm't
books which encouraged me ,mcl made me work hard
-tliroughou-t -the per iod of' t h i s resenrcli.
I am grntef 'u l 'Lo my wife, Angela Uzomo Agwu
f o r lisr moral and encourageme;n%, t o t h e
P r i n c i p a l , Students and S t o f f o f rny insti-tu-Lion,
W.T. C. Afikpo f o r t h e i r c o o p e ~ a t i v e a-t t i tucle
throughout t h e resecrch period.
I thank t h e au-tliors whose works I have quoted
i n -the research ,md tlic . t yp i s t s - Bea.trice, ~d Ugo
who contribu'tcd i n . t he i r own wws 'to br ing 'the work
to sucemo
PAGE
TITLE PAGE o o o o o o o o o
APPROVAL PAGE m o o e o I 0 0 0
DEDI CAT1 ON o o o o o a e o a
ACI(N OFLEDGEMXN T . * o e
TAB;LE OF CONTENTS o o o e e e
LIST OF TABLES e o e * 0 0
PROJSCT BSTRACT 6.0 w o o
W I I ? E R ONZ:
INTRODUCTION : ----a-
0 0 0 0 0 0 0 6 0
4 . Background of -I; he s-tudy 0..
2 . S t a t emcn-t of Prob?. em ... 3, The Purpose of 't h e study e.O
4. The Signif icance of - the study
5. The s c o p e o f t h e s t u d y .. O 6 Research Questions - a .. C m y ? ? *
LI T-R-I EW : -* 0 0 0 0 0 0
7. The Impnr tmce of BTucn-tional Admini 3% r a t i o n . .. m e *
8. Financia l M,m,zgemen-t - a
9. Provision of I n f ras - tmc- tura l F a c i l i - t i e s . . . ~ W O e e 0
10. he Role of -the Ministry of Bduc3.t ion and Sta t e Education Board.
ii
iii
i v
v i i i
11. Summary of the items r evi ewed . . . .. . 41
CHAPTER THREE: r-.. ----).C=I.-
12 Researcli procedure . . . 49
13. Type of s'tudy . . . . * . 49
14. Description of t h e Populn.tion 49
15. The szmple ... e m . 49
I 60 InstrumenL fo r Dz-ta Collect ion 5 1
17. Reliabi l iLy and vdidi'l;y of I n st rmrnen-l; s . a s . . . 52
18. Data Analysis Teclmiques .. . 52
-. C HAP -=_ - TE.R FOUR :
RESULTS AND DATA ATJALYSI S 0 0 " 54
19. Answering tlis research questions 54
OpT-: -
DISCUXE&IJ?T\TRJF~,V-LTS: 0 0 0 63
20, Discussion of -the f indings 63
21. Summary of t h e Results . O D 80
22. Conclusion . - . o r n o 84
23. Educations1 Implic,-,'tions of the s-tucw . .. ... .. . 86
24. Rscommndnkions f o r Further Resemcli , m e . 89
25. Limi-La-Lions of t h e cvl;udy ... 90
26. Suggestions Towards solving -the Ac1n1in.t s t ra ' t ive Problems 9 1
27. Bibliography o m - .. 93
8 p i : Name of Teacher Training Colleges
wes-Lionnaires f o r the P r inc ipa l s of TTC, Clzssroom teachers and p r i n c i p a l o f f i c e r s of -the Ministry of Educs-L .ion and t h e S'ta-l;e Education Bo ard . O D
vi i i
Table 4 :
Table 2:
Table 3:
Table 4:
Provi d o n of Inf rac t ruc tura l
F a c i l i t i e c
Estimated Annual Grm-to from t h e
Federal Government.
Major role^ played by -the
Ministry of Mucation and t h e S ta te
Mucat ion Board.
PROJECT ABSTRACT
The purpose of t h i s study i s t o i d a b i f y
-the major problem areas 'that hamper effect ive
school adminis'tra't ion of Imo S - t d e Teacher
Training Colleges. T h r ~ e working research
Wes-tiono were asked f o r -the p r p o s e of
collec-t ing data, namely: - Does f inancia l cons-t m i n t hamper effect ive
adminis'tra'tion of Irno Stake Tmcher
Training Col leges?
Does l ack of infras-trmc.Lural f a c i l i t i e s
a f fec t t h e adminisLra'tion of Imo Sta te
T-hers Colleges?
Does improper role dLfferentia-bion be'twsen
the Ministry of Xciucntion and -the SLa-te
Muca'tion Board a f fec t school adminis'tra-Lion?
Data were col lected by means of questionnaires,
interviews a d l i b r a r y research. The a-ta
co l lec~tsd were malysed ,and -the r e s u l t s of t he
f'tndings revealed -that: - ( 1 ) Lack of enough f'md af fec t eff iciency i n
admini s t ering Teachers Colleges i n Imo
S'ta'Le of Nigeria.
( 2 ) Absence of cuff icien-k infrss-t ruc-tural
f a c i l i t i e s makes school adminis'tra-tion
ineffective.
( 3 ) Conflicting ro les of -the Minis-try of Education
and 'the S'La'te Education Board help 'to weaken
school admini s-l;rntion.
Educci.tiona1 implicz.l;ions of 'tlie finding^; were
1xighli;Lcd m d a few recommendations made by t h e
wri ter , namely: - ( I ) That grm-l;s -to TTCs should be mnde dirsc-k t o
school s ra ther - thm pa soing through the Mini ot ry
of Educa'tion and the S-tr*te Educti-Lion Board.
(2 ) Thst o f f i c i a l s who embezde mcaey should be made
-to r c m d 'the money or be dismissed from service.
(3) That Pr incipals of schools should be subjected
'to regulzr auditing.
(4) Th2.t every c i t i zen should be made t o p,ay education
levy f o r adequn-te fnnding of schools i n Imo
S'ta'te, etc.
In view of tlic limi-l;a'kions of -the s-tudy,
recommends-Lions were mnde f o r ftrLure research.
Bacaraund -to the Study: - This study ma conduc-ted i n the fourtern
Teacher Trsining Colleges i n Imo State of Nigeria.
Those collegeo were established .to t r a i n teacher6
who would take up appointment i n the Primary and
Post-primary insti-tu-tions.
The demmd f o r trainedl teachers became acute
a f t e r the Migerian Civil War and the introduction
of the U n i v e r ~ a l Primary mucation (UPB) i n 1976.
After %hi G year Nigeria wi'tnesoed ac t ronomical
increase i n ~ c h o o l enrolment, a aitua-tion which
pers i s ted ' t i l l about 1982 whem most Sta-teo
introduced payment of fees i n who 01s.
The ro l e of the teacher during th io period
was of grea-t importance i n order t o c a t e r f o r t h e
enrolment explocion i n cchoolo. The r o l e of
-teachem wag c l ea r ly s t a t ed i n t h e Nigerian
National Policy on Educc;.tion (I 977: 32).
It s t a t e d tha t : -
"Teacher education w i l l continue t o be given
a major emphasis i n a l l our educational
planning because no educational system
can r i s e above the qua l i t y of i t s teachers".
It went f u r t h e r t o i d e n t i f y the major funct ional
areas as follows:-
1 . Production of adequate number of the Universal
Primary Education;
2. Production of high qua l i t y teachers; and
3 . The r a i s i n g up of se l f -d isc ip l ined,
responsible and dedicated teachers who i n
tu rn would take up the t a s k of making .- - b-.
fu tu re c i t i z e n s and leaders of tomorrow.
This then means t h a t t o achieve the above
object ives the teacher t r a in ing col leges must be
e f f ec t i ve ly administered. The implications
therefore, a r e t h a t : There must be enough funds,
goud administrat ive s t ruc tu re , good personnel
administration, and above a l l , good leadership
and public re la t ions .
I n the administrat ive hierarchy of our
educat ional system, the school administrator or the
p r inc ipa l occupies a s t r a t e g i c pos i t i on because h i s
day-to-day a c t i v i t i e s a re most d i r e c t l y i n touch with
the s t a f f and students and can therefore exer t a
l a rge measure of inf luence on them, I n carrying out
h i s funct ions , the administrator o f ten runs i n t o
c o n f l i c t with the o ther r o l e p layers such a s the
d f i c i a l s from the Ministry of Education and the S t a t e
Education Board because of the f a c t t ha t the r o l e s of
each of these school administrators a r e not disSkhctly
marked out.
Before the Nigerian C i v i l War, the p r i n c i p d s C f f
Teachersr Collezes under the church and the Government
owned col leges had a la rge amount of au thor i ty i n t h e i r
respect ive schools. A b r i e f review of the h i s t o r y of
Nigerian educat ional system and the p r inc ipa l ' s
autonomy, as out l ined i n the Memorandum on the Review
d f Educational system of Imo S t a t e - (~ppend ix $?A
( i i ) : 428 - 429, 1980) gives support t o t h i s claim.
On the reasons why church r e l a t e d schools successful ly
operated " A sound Administrative Structure" the Imo
State conference of p r inc ipa l s confirmed t h a t i n the
then Eastern Region, "The schools symbolised the
pr incipals and the pr incipals symbolised the schools.
The pr incipals had considerable powers and autonomy i n
running the schools - r ec ru i t i ng and d i sc ip l in ing the
s t a f f , se lec t ing t h e i r students, handling f inances
of t h e i r schools and introducing some imovat ions
within certain l i m i t s .
I n the post c i v i l war Nigeria, the s t a t e take-over
of schools saw the establishment of administrative or
advisory bodies such a s the Sta te Education Board,
Board of Governors, Zonal Education Boards,
Advisory Committees (Imo Sta te Education Law
No. 20 of 1980: 5) . These i n s t i t u t i o n s were
es tabl ished t o maximise output i n education, but i t
has been observed tha t they have very much encroached
upon the a c t i v i t i e s of the pr incipals , r e su l t i ng t o
the decline i n d i sc ip l ine among the teachers and
students , a l so a decl ine i n f a c i l i t i e s and
f inanc i a l support f o r schools. These and other
f ac to r s have a f fec ted the power base of p r inc ipa l s
and i n consequence created administrat ive problems
i n t h e i r work a s school administratam.
One can r ip;ht ly describe the years following
the Nigerian C iv i l War (1967-1970) a s the ' olden Age
of Education i n Niger ia t . This w a s the time when
Nigerian Government showed the g r e a t e s t and much
ac t ive i n t e r e s t i n educational development ( ~ a i l y
S t a r of Sept., 9, 1981 page 7 ) , communities and
individuals ( ~ a i l y Zimes of Sept. 21, 1981 :L). A t
t h i s point , education was highly valued and demanding,
ye t the paradox of post war public education i n
Nigeria showed some t h r e a t s of education - parents
protes ted of sky-rocketing cos t s of education (Weekly
Trumpet of February 28, 1982 : 6). The public showed
i t s concern f o r the so-called ' f a l l i n g standard' i n
educat2on and demanded new or ien ta t ion i n education - (Weekly Trumpet, Ju ly 26, 1981 : 8 and Daily Times,
January 3.5, 1983 : 38),
Pr inc ipals complained of lack o f adequate funds
t o cont r ibute meaningfully towards the achievement of
qua l i t h t i ve education emphasised by the National
Pdl icy on Education (Nigerian Mirrrbr, July 15, 1981
: 3 ) . Teachers made joint e f f o r t s and pressed f o r
regular payment of t h e i r s a l a r i e s and b e t t e r
conditions of service ( ~ a i l y Times, Feb. 3, 1982 : 1 )
and ( ~ a i l y S ta r , Feb. 25, 1982 : 11).
Students r e s i s t e d school r u l e s and regula t ions
with impunity (Daily Times, Iflay 16, 1981 : 1 ) and
educat ional ly backward communities demanded fo r
equal educational opportunit ies , hence the
p r o l i f e r a t i o n of schools and col leges without
minding whether or not they are equipped f o r
e f f ec t i ve teaching and learning s i t u a t i o n ( ~ a i l y
S ta r , October 21, 198L : 11).
Classrool~ teachers, with l i t t l e or no
managerial experience were o f t en pulled out from
classrooms t o take up administrat ive r e spons ib i l i t i e s
as heads of schools.
This s t a t e of d i s - s a t i s f ac t i on has crea ted
some administrat ive problems f o r the p r inc ipa l s
and thus a f f e c t s the achievement of a qua l i t a t i ve
education which the Nigerian public expects from
the pr incipalship despite the ' c r i s i s s i t ua t i on ' .
STATSiUNT OF THE PROBLEM P1 -A -
A proulem i d e n t i f i e d i s a problem ha l f
solved. So the i d e n t i f i c a t i o n of problems i s
c e r t a in ly the best approach t o the so lu t ion of
problems i n educational administrat ion.
This study the re f ore focused i t s a t t e n t i o n
on the i d e n t i f i c a t i o n of major administrat ive
problems i n the following areas:-
1. Financial Management
2. The r o l e of the Ministry of Education
and the S ta te Education Board i n
School administration.
3. The provision of i n s t r u c t i o n a l and
i n f r a s t r u c t u r a l f a c i l i t i e s as they
a f f ec t school administrat ion.
According t o Howell ( ~ 9 6 6 : 15) ,
"The educat ional administrator needs t o
contiruously examine the purpose of h i s
organisa t ion a s i t attempts t o servsce its
unique r o l e i n our soc i e ty and t o make
recommendations f o r re-shaping the organisat ion
a s well a s t o operat ing it".
Hobbes (1972 : 13) a l s o sa id ,
"Since management i s the management of the mind
which i s not predic table , management of fund
which requ i res accountabi l i ty and the public
with d i v e r s i t y of i n t e r e s t s , the administrator
i s placed under d a i l y and perpetual problem
of analysis" .
A favourable s i t u a t i o n f o r e f f e c t i v e administration
i s aa id t o e x i s t , when the p r inc ipa l of a school i s
allowed f r e e hand i n the exerc ise of h i s legi t imate
au thor i ty without some hi tches .
Under the present school adminis t ra t ive s t ruc tu r e
i n Imo S ta te the s t a t e ac t ing through the S ta te
Education Board, plans the curriculum, recommends text -
books and provides equipment f o r the schools. It i s
a l so responsible f o r r ec ru i t ing , post ing, t r ans f e r s ,
and promoting both t he academic and non-academic
s t a f f . It conducts entrance examinations i n t o and
s e l e c t s s tudents f o r admission i n t o schools. Under
these c i r c ~ s t a n c e s it i s t o be expected t ha t both
teachers and s tuden t s should see the p r inc ipa l ' s
pos i t i on a s car ry ing l i t t l e or no author i ty . This
s i t u a t i o n could r e s u l t i n lack of co-operation on the
Pa r t of the s t a f f and lack of respect on the p a r t of
the s tudents , leading t o f u r t he r underminding
the pos i t ion of the p r inc ipa l and c r ea t i ng se r ious
d i s c i p l i n e problems, because of the f a c t t h a t s tudents
would then f l o u t school r u l e s and regula t ions .
I n the face of t h i s s i t u a t i o n P r inc ipa l s of
Teacher Training Colleges i n the S t a t e appear
t o be handicapped i n maintaining d i s c ip l i ne a s a
r e s u l t of c e r t a i n guidel ines imposed by Government
Policy.
The Imo S t a t e P r inc ipa l s o f ~ e a c h e r s ' Colleges
faced with these conf ' l icting demands seemed t o be i n
a c r i s i s of i d e n t i t y - t h a t i s they seemed t o have
d i f f i c u l t y i n i den t i f y ing t h e i r proper r o l e s a s
administrators .
They therefore found i t d i f f i c u l t t o reconci le
these cons t r a in t s and pressures with what t h e i r
funct ions a s school l eaders had beenbe fo re the
S t a t e Take-over of schools, which included:
d i s c i p l i n i n g the s t a r f and s tudents , Provision of'
school needs and i n f r a s t r u c t u r e , preparing school
Budget with the Board of Governors, rece iv ing and
d isburs ing grants made t o school, e t c . d ducat ion Review Commission Appendix.! Ill I 980 p.443 - 444).
In t h i s study therefore the wr i t e r i d e n t i f i e d
such envisaged problem areas t ha t cons t i t u t e
administrat ive problems and thus hamper %fie smooth
running of Teacher Training Colleges i n the S ta te*
It i s hoped t ha t by iden t i fy ing these problems
one would have made the first leap towards solving
them.
THJ3 PURPOSE OF STUDY
The purpose of t h i s study i s t o f i n d out how
the i d e n t i f i e d problem areas m i l i t a t e against the
smooth running of Teacher Training Colleges i n
Imo S t a t e so a s t o f i n d solu t ions t o them f o r
e f f e c t i v e school administration. Although some
P r inc ipa l s lack leadership po ten t i a l , most of
them do not know t h e i r pnoper r o l e s a s the
a r c h i t e c t s of school administration. This i s due
t o the f a c t t h a t the po l i cy makers and the executive
arms have so much i n f i l t r a t e d i n t h e i r adminis t ra t ive
domains.
The memorandum submitted by the Imo S t a t e
Conference of Pr inc ipa l s of ToTeCs and Secondary
Schools t o the S ta te Education Review Commission
1980 s t a t e d e labora te ly the views and pos i t ions of
p r inc ipa l s on various aspects of education system
i n the S ta te . Accordingly, the memorandum s t a t e d
t h a t the educa t iona l system i n Imo S t a t e 9 seen a t
present does not make enough room f o r consult ing
p r inc ipa l s of schools i n decis ion making espea ia l ly
i n matters t h a t a f f e c t them and the welfare of t h e i r
schoolso Even when consulted t h e i r views and
opinions a re never considered se r ious ly i n the
formation of educational po l i c i e s ,
This s i t u a t i o n r e su l t ed t o loas of courage on
the pa r t of t h e p r inc ipa l s a s they f e e l l e f t out,
and consequently education su f f e r s , The Pr inc ipa l s
a l s o f e l t t h a t powers were over concentrated i n the
S t a t e Education Board with whom they dea l more
c lo se ly than the Ministry o f Education. This had
very often caused The de lays of ac t ions and had
rendered those a t t h e lower hierarchy r a the r
pe r iphera l i n cont r ibut ing e f f eo t i ve ly t o the system,
The purpose of t he &udy c an theref ore , be
summarised as follows : - To f i n d out how f i n a n c i a l cons t ra in t cons t i t u t e s
a problem i n school administrat ion;
To f i nd out the ex t en t t o which the r o l e
r e l a t i onsh ip between the IVlinistry of Education and the
S t a t e Education Board a f f e c t s the work of the
p r inc ipa l as the school administrator; and f i n a l l y ,
t o f i n d out t o what extent lack of enough i n f r a s t ruc -
t u r e s a f f e c t s school administration.
THE SIGKIFICANCE OF THE STUDY
Teacher educat ion, i n Nigeria has been
cons i s ten t ly experiencing a l o t of changes a s we
have been observing since the '80s. Many
i n s t i t u t i o n s are expanding t h e i r teacher
education praogrammes t o face the challenges i n the
demand f o r teacherso The ca l ib re of the teaching
personnel i s changing and t eachers are becoming
more mi l i tant . This idea was expressed i n the
d a i l y S t a r of December 16, 1981 page 2 and the
weekly Trumpet of February 2 , 1982 page 9, There
has been an enormous increase i n school population
and s tudents themselves a re becoming more sophis t ica ted
a s expressed i n the Sunday Times of February 14, 1982
page 9. S ta te Governments are phasing out or
re t renching t h e i r untrained teachers and t ra ined
but unce r t i f i c a t ed teachers i n place of t r a ined
and c e r t i f i c a t e d teachers; knowledge changes i n
content and di rec t ion; b e l i e f s and a t t i t u d e s as
t o how t o improve teaching and learning are
changinig. I n the face of a l l these innovative
ideas being expressed i n the rank and f i l e o f the
Nigerian Society, i t becomes mandatory t h a t education
planners be s ens i t i ve t o these changes and c l a r i f y
the contemporary needs of p r inc ipa l s as school
administrators . This study, therefore i s an
embodiment of many f ac to r s t o Nigerian educatdms
and pr inc ipa l s i n t h e i r quest f o r qua l i t a t i ve education
which can only be achieved through the programmes of
the Teachers Colleges. The study w i l l be of
immense operat ional importance t o the Federal and
Sta te Governments, p rac t i s ing educational adminis-
t r a t o r s and planners who may wish t o s t up
i n s t i t u t i o n s f o r the t r a in ing of teachers i n f u t u r e by
providing them with useful h i n t s and guidelines on
the appropriate procedure f o r e f f e c t i v e school
administration. This i s so because with the acute
shortage of qua l i f i ed teachers i n the country,
more teachers ' col leges are bound t o be b u i l t or
establ ished.
a d m i n i s t e r i n g t h e i r s c h o o l s and t h e i r i m p l i c a t i o n s
f o r e f f e c t i - v e s c h o o l a d m i n i s t r 2 t i o n v!ould
c o n t r i b u t e imense ly towards a b e t t e r and c l e a r e r
u n d e r s t a n d i n g of t h e e d u c ~ t i o n a l system i n
Imo S t a t e and c o n s e q u e n t l y tociprds j-t s grer?t e r
e f f i c i e n c y .
The s t u d y i.s res t r r i c t e d t,o T.T.Cs. i n Tmo
S t a t e and i n v o l v e s P r i n c i p a l s and t e a c h e r s from
t h e s e Coll-egcs. Also i n c l u d e d i n t h e s t u d y a r e
t h e P r i n c i p a l O f f i c e r s i n t h e ?/Tinis try of
Educa t ion and t h e S t a t e Educat ion Board. The
T, T, Cs. a r e f o u r t e e n i n number and t h e y
i n c l u d e :-
I . Women T r a i n i n g Col lege , Afikpo
Teacher T r a i n i n g Col.lege, Azaraegbelu
S t , J o s e p h ' s Teacher T r a i n i n g Co l l ege , .Aba
Teacher Tra in . ing Co l l ege , m i m e Tea.cher T r a i n i n g Col-lepe, Xgbema
Teacher Trainj-ng Coil-ege, I r e t e
Teacher Tr2. ining Co! l e p e , Ihj-e 4
MacGregor Tep c h e r ? ra in5 pg Co3. l e~e , .Afi.kpo
Teacher T r 3 i n i n g Col l e g e , ITsu ,
Bishop Shanaham Teachers Co l l ege , (PSTC) Orlu .
11. Teacher Training College, Uzuakoli
12. Teacher Training College, Uturu
13. Women Training College, Umuahia
14. Teacher Training College, Umudi.
Limited l i t e r a t u r e on t h i s s tudy posed a b ig
c o n s t r a i n t so t h a t t h e r e sea rche r b a s i c a l l y
r e l i e d much on l i t e r a t u r e from Niger ia and
o t h e r Countries.
RESEARCH QUESTIONS
Since t h e s tudy i s a survey research
involv ing problem i d e n t i f i c a t i o n and i t s e f f e c t
on school admin i s t r a t ion , t h e w r i t e r considered
t h e use of research ques t ions p e r t i n e n t f o r t h e
study. The fol lowing research ques t ions were
however considered very import:mt f o r t h e purpose of
c o l l e c t i n g r e l e v a n t data:-
1 . Does f i n a n c i a l c o n s t r a i n t hamper e f f e c t i v e
admin i s t r a t ion of Irno S t a t e Teachers Colleges?
2. Docs non-provision of enough i n f r a s t r u c t u r a l
f a c i l i t i e s a f f e c t t h e admin i s t r a t ion of t h e
Imo S t a t e Teachers1 Colleges?
3. Does t h e r o l e r e l a t i o n s h i p between t h e
Pi inis t ry of Education and t h e S t a t e
Education Board a f f e c t t h e admin i s t r a t ion
of the Tmo S t a t e Tc3chersf Collpges?
The r e s e a r c h e r discussed the xe~.-ia-:~ ,
o f l i t e r a t u r e under t l l e f o l l o w i n g Pour h e s d i n g s ,
namely, t h e imvor tance of e d u c a t i o n a l a d . m i n i s t r ~ t 5 o n ,
f i n a n c i a l management ; t h e r o l e p layed by t h e V i n i s t r y
o f Educat ion an$ t h e S t a t e Kducation R o ~ r d ; and
f i n a l l y t h e i m ~ o r t 2 n c e of t h e p r o v i s i o n . o f
i n f r a s t r u c t u r e s i n c l u d i n g t w c h i n g a i d s . The
r e s e a r c h t h e r e f o r e focussed i t s a t t e n t i o n OF. t h e . - above a r e a s which t h e w r i t e r assumed d i d
c r e a t e a l o t of problems t o s c h o o l a d m i n i s t r a t o r s ,
Examining an e d u c a t i o n a l system i n o r d e r t o
a p p r a i s e i t s c o n t r i b u t i o n s t o n a t i o n a l develonment
e n t a i l s a system a - n a l y s i s o f e d u c - t i o n i t s e l f .
Educs t ion i s n o t j u s t an end i-n i t s e l f b u t an ,
i n v e s t m e n t , a means t o an end.
Combs (1968 : 9 ) s a i d t h a t tvrhpt seemed t h e
i s s u e of t h e day was t h e re-examination of t h e
o r g a n i s e d , p r o c e s s by which a s o c i e t y pursued.
e d u c ~ t i o n , and whether t h a t , p r o c e s s n n c l , i t s r e s u l t s
cou ld b e made more r e l e v a n t , mean ingfu l , e f f i c i e n t
and e f f e c t i v e w i t h i n t h e c o n t e x t of t h e p a r t i c u l a r
s o c i e t y and i t s developmenta l t a s k s .
Today e d u c a t i o n i s u n i v e r s a l l y a c c e p t e d * -
a s a form o f l -nves tment i n human b e i n g s which y i e l d s economic b e n e f i t s o r r e t u r n s and c o n t r i b u t e s
t o a n a t i o n ' s f u t u r e vreal th and development by
i n c r e a s i n g t h e p r o d u c t i v e and consumpt iye c a p p c i t y
o f i t s c i t i z e n s , I f viewed i n t h i s way, a31
e x p e n d i t u r e i n e d u c a t i o n c o u l d b e t o a g r e a t e x t e n t
j u s t i - f i e d i n t e r m s of t h e p o t e n t i a l c o n t r i b u t i o n o f
e d u c a t i o n t o economic growth and n a t i o n a l development ,
E d u c a t i o n must t h e r e f o r e b e c o n t i n u o u s l y p l a n n e d as
a form o f s o c i a l and economic i n v e s t m e n t whose
b e n e f i t s c o n v i n c i n g l y w a r r a n t t h e enormous sums of
money s p e n t on e d u c a t i o n . T h i s was t h e most r e a s o n
why t h e ashby Commission o f 1960 te rmed i t s
c l a s s i c a l Repor t on th .e man-nower n e e d s and h i g h e r I
e d u c a t i o n i n PTiqeri.a, - l t Inves tment I n r;l'duc;trionfg ,
T h i s r e p o r t 17rrs i m p o r t ~ n t p r i m n r i l y b e c a u s e i t r e p r e s e n t e d a symbol o f t h e d e t e r m i n a t i o n o f
i n d e p e n d e n t b? iger ia t o e x p n d i t s e d u c a t i o n
s y s t e m a t i c a l l y i n o r d e r t o u n d e r w r i t e s o c i a l and
economic p r o g r e s s ,
However, v~hcn e d u c a t i o n i s t h o u g h t O f a s a n
i n v e s t m e n t , rre must n o t f o r g e t t h a t e d u c a t i o n i s n o t
e a s i l y comparable t o o t h e r forms o f economic
i n v e s t m e n t because i t h a s , few p e c u l i a r c h a r a c t e r -
i s t i c s . f i r s t l y , e d u c ~ t i o n i s b o t h a n i t e m o f
consumption and a v i t a l f a c t o r o fproduc t ion . It
may b e d e ~ a n d e d f o r i t s own sake. The Tanzanian
p r e s i d e n t , Nyerere (1967 : 1 7 ) had i n f a c t i n s i s t e d t h a t , p u b l i c l y provided "educat ion f o r e d u c a t i o n ' s
sake1' must b e g e n e r a l educa t i on f o r t h e masses. A s
a f a c t o r of p roduc t i on , educa t ion produces t h e attitude:
s k i l l s , knowledge, and p e r s o n a l i t i e s upon which modern
t echnology , i n d u s t r i a l i 7 , a t i o n and organ ised
development a n d ~ r o d u c t i o n depend. #
Secondly, i n economic concep ts educa t ion y i e l d s
a h igh margin of l n d i r e c t r e t u r n s s i n c e i t i s aimed
a t modifying peopl-e r p t h e r t h a n t h i n g s , hence Thomas Aquainas de f ined educa t i on as " the a c q u i s i t i o n o f t h e
p e r s o n a l d i s c i p l i n e neces sa ry f o r l i f e ' s adventure . T h i r d l y , as a n i n s t rumen t f o r n , t iona l
development, t h e c o s t s o f , and t h e b e n e f i t s t o be
de r ived from educa t ion a r e a f f e c t e d and circum-.
s c r i b e d by t h e c o u n t r y ' s e x i s t i n g gene ra l l e v e l o f
p o l i t i c a l , s o c i a l and economic development.
And l a s t l y , educg t ion as an i n t e g r a l p g r t o f
a t o t a l c u l t u r e , met re fo rmer s u s e i t as an
i n s t r u m e n t f o r s o c i a l and c u l t u r a l r egene ra t i on .
When e d u c a t i o n f a i l s t o s a t i s f y some o r a l l . - o f i t s expec ted g o q l s e s p e c i a l l y i t s b e i n g a means
o f s o c i a l r e c o n s t r u c t i o n , p e o p l e t u r n round t o t a l k
o f f a l l i n g s t a n d a r d s i n e d u c a t i o n . T h i s i n o t h e r
words r e f e r s t o t h e f a c t t h a t t h e r e i s l a c k o f
q u a l i t y e d u c ~ t i o n a s we know today , I n a t t e m p t i n g
t o answer t h e i s s u e of f a l l i n g s t a n d a r d , p e o ~ l e
t e n d t o blame i t upon noor e d u c 3 t i o n a l p l a n n i n g a
and a d m i r A s t r n t i o n , and t h e end r e s u l t would be a
d e f e a t of t h e n a t i o n a l g o a l o f e d u c a t i o n f o r
q u a l i t a t i v e e d u c a t i o n e n s h r i n e d i n t h e n a t i o n a l
P o l i c y on e d u c a t i o n .
A d m i n i s t r a t i o n i s a g e n e r a l i s e d t y p e of
b e h a v i o u r found i n a l l human o r g a n i s a t i o n s ,
It i s t h e p r o c e s s of p l a n n i n g , c o n t r o l l i n g ,
and c o o r d i n a t i n g f a c t o r r e s o u r c e s , t h e l i f e and
b e h a v i o u r of p e o p l e i n an o r g a n i s a t i o n . A l l
a d m i n i s t r a t i v e b e h a v i ~ u r s t a k e p l a c e w i t h i n t h e
c o n t e x t o f o r g a n i s a t i o n . Admin i s t r a t ion a r i s e s
where t h e r e i s an o r g a n i s a t i o n . An o r g a n i s a t i o n i s
composed of any g roup o f p e o p l e who have u n i t e d
t o g e t h e r t o . p u r s u e and accompl ish a common purpose
as one team. T h i s co l . l . ec t ive e f f o r t and t h e p o o l i n g o f r e s o u r c e s t o a c h i e v e a common aim i s what i s r e f e r -
r e d t o as a n o r g a n i s a t i o n , O r g a n i s a t i o n cou ld b e
fo rmal o r i n f o r m a l , Formal o r g a n i s a t i o n s have
members whose a c t i v i t i e s a r e governed by c e r t a i n
s p e c i f i c r u l e s and p r o c e d u r e s which d e t e r m i n e t h e
d e g r e e of a u t h o r i t y and behav iour of each
~ a r t i c i p a t i n g member. In fo rmal o r g a n i s a t i o n s
a r e s o c i a l g roups o r c l i q u e s which deve lop w i t h i n
t h e formal o r g a n i s a t i o n i n ord'er t o f u l f i l
i n d i v i d u a l s o c i a l needs. According t o Simon
(1965 : 148);
I9No formal o r g a n i s a t i o n can o p e r a t e
e f f e c t i v e l y w i t h o u t an xcornpanying
i n f o r m a l o r g a n i s a t i o n f l .
I n a s c h o o l system such i n f o r m a l o r g a n i s a t i o n s
do e x i s t , P u p i l s group themse lves i n t o c l i q u e s
a c c o r d i n g t o t h e i r s o c i a l i n t e r e s t s . A l l
o r g a n i s a t i o n s aim at t h e accomplishment of goa l s .
It i s t h e accomplishment of t h e s e o o l l e c t i v e
g o a l s t h a t p r o p e r a d m i n i s t r a t i o n i s needed.
P a r s o n s (1960 : 1 7 ) d e f i n e d an o r g a n i s a t i o n
as a s o c i p l u n i t which i s d e l i b e r a t e l y c o n s t r u c t e d
and recOnst ruct ,ed i n o r d e r t o seek s p e c i f i c g o a l s .
The d e d u c t i o n h e r e i s t h a t o r g a n i s a t i o n is made u p
o f human b e i n g s and t h e i r a c t i v i t i e s towards
a c h i e v i n g c o l l e c t i v e g o a l s .
E d u c a t i o n a l i n s t i t u t i o n s a r e examples o f - -
formal o r g a n i s a t i o n s whose members have an
o b j e c t i v e o r o b j e c t i v e s t o achieve . These -.
o b j e c t i v e s a c c o r d i n g t o T a m (1962 : 209) i n c l u d e d
t r a n s m i s s i o n and p r e s s e r v a t i o n o f t h e p e o p l e ' s
c u l t u r e , t h e development o f e f f e c t i v e work-habi t s
and s k i l l s and t h e development of e f f e c t i v e ways of t h i n k i n g ,
I n N i g e r i a , t h e o b j e c t i v e s which o u r
e d u c a t i o n a l i n s t i t u t i o n s a r e supposed t o a c h i e v e
a r e c o n t a i n e d i n t h e N a t i o n a l P o l i c y on Educa t ion
- t h e i n c u l c a t i o n o f n a t i o n a l c o n s c i o u s n e s s
and n a t i o n a l u n i t y ;
C t h e i n c u l c a t i o n o f t h e r i g h t t y p e o f
v a l u e s and a t t i t u d e s f o r t h e s u r v i v a l
o f t h e i n d i v i d u a l and t h e bTigerian
s o c i e t y ;
- t h e t r a i n i n g o f t h e mind i n t h e under-
s t m d - i n g o f t h e w o r l d around; and # - t h e a c a u i ~ i t i o n of a n p r o p r i n t e s k i l l s ,
a b i l - i t i e s , and competences b o t h m e n t a l
and p h y s i c a l as equipment f o r t h e i n d i v i d u a l t o l i v e and c o n t r i b u t e t o
t h e development o f h i s s o c i e t y .
Educa.tiona1 i n s t i t u t i o n s i n o r d e r t o f u n c t i o n
p r o p e r l y and. a c h i e v e t h e s e o b j e c t i v e s must have I
f a c t o r r e s o u r c e s such as manpower, f i n a n c e , c a p i t a l
equipment nnd m o t i v 3 t i o n . A s a r e s u l t o f s c a r c i t y ,
o f t h e s e r e s o u r c e s , o r g a n i s a t i o n s had t o manage,with r e s o u r c e s t h a t c o u l d b e a v a i l a b l e 1-ike manpower,
f i n z n c i a l and c a p i t a l equipment which have t o , b e
c o n t r o l l e d 2nd c o - o r d i n a t e d r a t i o n a l l y . Thus, t h e
p r o c e s s Of c o - o r d i n a t i n g and c o n t r o l - l i n g a v a i l a b l e
f a c t o r r e s o u r c e s i n ord'er t o a c h i e v e t h e d e s i r e d
o b j e c t i v e ( s ) i s what i s r e f e r r e d t o as a d m i n i s t r a t i o n ,
b lb i t i ( 1977 : 2 ) d e f i n e d a d m i n i s t r a t i o n as :-
"A f o r m u l a t e d sys tem which i s i n t e n d e d t o , I
c o n t r o l , s u p e r v i s e , plap1 .nd make d e c i s i o n s
a b o u t t h e v a r i o u s a c t i v i t i e s o f a n o r g a n i s a t i o n
on t h e b a s i s o f establ i .sHed a u t h o r i t y . In I
s h o r t , a d m i n j - s t r a t i o n i s t h e a u t h o r i t a t i v e
art of g e t t i n g t h i n g s donesg.
School ad rn in i s t r a - t ion d e a l s ma.inly w i t h p o l i c i e s ,
p e r s o n n e l and programmes. T h i s view was suppor ted by Walton (1969 : 48) who a c c e p t e d a d m i n i s t r a t i o n
as concerned w i t h c w r y i n g o u t o f . p o l i c i e s and
prograriimes t h a t had been a c c e p t e d , t h e d i r e c t i o n
o f t h e e f f o r t s o f p e o p l e working t o g e t h e r i n t h e i r
r e c i p r o c a l r e l a t i o n s s o t h a t t h e aims o f t h e
o r g a n i s a t i o n may b e accompl ished,
I n h i s own c o n t r i b u t i o n Fafunvia (1974 : 3 )
quoted P i t t i n a e r as d e f i n i n g a d m i n i s t r a t i o n as
s e l e c t i o n , appointment and assignment of t h e ,
s c h o o l ' s employod pe r sonne l - employees, pupixs ,
board members and members of t h e community i n
c r e a t i n g , execu t i ng and improving p o l i c i e s which
make f o r sound and e f f i c i e n t educat ion . Personne l - ,
i t s procurment , c o o r d i n a t i o n and l e a d e r s h i p - i s
one main element i n t h i s d e f i n i t i o n . P o l i c i e s - ,
t h e i r c r e a t i o n , imp l imen t a t i on and improvement - comprise ano ther . Achievement of sound e d u c a t i o n a l
g o a l i s t h e t h l r d .
As t h e c h i e f Adrn5.nistrztive O f f i c e r o f t h e School , t h o P r i n c i p a l i s r e s ~ c n s i b l e f o r t h e
o v e r a l l a d m i n i s t r a t i o n of t h e s choo l - s u p e r v i s i o n
o f sta.f f ; improvement o f i n s t r u c t i o n and cur r i cu lum development, . n d t h e development of s choo l and community r e l a t i o n s .
-.
Nwogu (1980 : 159) a s s e r t e d t ~ a t :
"finance i s one o f t h e f a c t o r r e s o u r c e s ,
v e r y impor tan t f o r c lassroom i n s t r u c t i o n .
Educat ion must h e p a i d fo r . Teachers who
i n s t r u c t t h e s t u d e n t s must be pa id .
Accommodation f o r i n s t r u c t i o n a l purposes
must b e b u i l t . T r a i n i n g Teachers
and p r o f e s s i o n a l l y s o t h a t t h e y
can i n s t r u c t e f f e c t i v e l y and c f f i c i e n t l y ,
canno t b e accomplished wi thou t f inance . 4
I n f a c t , f i n a n c e i s t h e l i f e w i r e of
e f f e c t i v e c lassroom i n s t r u c t i o n w .
S u p e r v i s i o n of i n s t r u c t i o n i s a key a s p e c t
i n a d m i n i s t r a t i o n , and s o any f i n a n c i a l c o n s t r a i n t
i n any s e c t i o n a f f e c t s t h e whole a d m i n i s t r a t i v e s e t
u p i n any o r g a n i s a t i o n ,
T o s i and C a r r o l (1976 : 348) w r i t i n g on
employee ' s compensat ion s a i d , Wnployee compensation
can b e c o n s i d e r e d t o i n c l u d e , a l l va lued r e s o u r c e s
such a s h o u r l y wage payments, s a l a r i e s and i n c e n t i v e
p.ays g i v e n by an o r g a n i s a t i o n t o employees as a
r e t u r n f o r t h e i r workqv. Ehployee compensat ion ,
a l s o i n c l u d e s f r i n g e b e n e f i t s such as p e n s i o n s ,
v a c a t i o n s , s t o c k o p t i o n s and employee d i s c o u n t s ,
a l l o f which r e q u i r e e x p e n d i t u r e hy t h e
o r g a n i s a t i o n . Cornnensation p rogrmmes have -
s e v e r a l o b j e c t i v e s among which a r e :- I . a t t r a c t i n g ~ u a l - i f i e d human t a l e n t ;
2. m o t i v a t i n g members t o perform a t a h igh
l e v e l ;
3. maintenance of employee s a t i s f a c t i o n .
S a t i s f a c t i o n on t h e job l e a d s t o r e a s o n a b l e ,
c u t p u t , Frringe b e n e f i t s , minimum s a l a r y s c h e d u l e ,
h o n e s t y i n h a n d l i n g t h e s t a f f a f f a i r s and prompt
payment would encourage t h e t e a c h e r s t o p u t i n
t h e i r b e s t and . t h i s w i l l l e a d t o b e t t e r s c h o o l
B e t t e r c o n d i t i o n s of s e r v i c e n o t
o n l y z t t r a c t b e s t q u a l i t y t e a c h e r s i n t o t h e
s e r v i c e , b u t a l s o t h e y r e d u c e t o a minimum f r e q u e n t
exodus o f good t e a c h e r s t o o t h e r f i e l d s and
i n v a r i a b l y e n s u r e q u a l i t y e d u c a t i o n i n Secondary
T r a i n i n g Col leges , T h e r e f o r e ,
e f f e c t i v e s c h o o l a m i n i s t r a t i o n i n our s c h o o l s
r e q u i r e s adequa te fund ing , 4
k c o r d i n g t o Tay lo r (1974 : 201, g'The d e g r e e
02 s u c c e s s of t e a c h e r s depends on t h e c o n t i n u i n g ,
s u p p o r t t h e y rece i .vs , t h e r e s o u r c e s a v a i l a b l e t o
them and t h e i r p u p i l s . . f o r t e a c h i n g and l e a r n i n g
t h e d e g r e e o f s e c u r i t y and c a r e e r p r o s p e c t s
t h e y en joyv , The s u p p o r t a t e a c h e r r e q u i r e s may b e i n t h e a r e a s o f improved c o n d i t i o n o f s e r v i c e - s a l a r y s t r u c t u r e , h o s p i t a l i z a t i o n b e n e f i t , r e t i r e m e n t
b e n e f i t s , g r i e v a n c e p rocedures , s e l f p r o f e s s i o n a l ,
improverflents, and s i c k and s t u d y l e a v e s , I n 8-11
t h e s e c a s e s f i n a n c e i s t h e answer, The above a r e
f a c t o r s Or" m o t i v a t i o n . Mot iva t ion a c c o r d i n g t o
M b i t i (1974) h a s t c do w i t h employee I s i n t e r e s t
i n p u t t i n g t h e u tmos t e f f o r t i n t o h i s work. It
i s one O f t h e key f a c t o r s t h a t l e z d s t o e f f i c i e n c y .
Such i n t e r e s t must have t o b e c u l t i v z . t e d by t h e
employer th rough a d m i n i s t r a t i v e methods, Mot iva t ion
i s t h e i d e a - o f g e t t i n g t h e mcmhers o f a team come
t o g e t h e r f o r t h e coarnon good o f t h e o r g a n i s a t i o n .
The v e r y measures u,qed f o r conpenoa t ion cou.ld 8
b e used. f o r m o t i v a t i o n . For example, a t t r a c t i v e " 4
s a l a r i e s , promotion o p p o r t u n i t i e s , a n n u a l l e a v e 0 d 6
s t u d y t o u r s , i n - s e r v i c e programmes, and
o t h c r f r i n g e b e n e f i t s a r c measures which t h e employer can u s e t o m o t i v a t e h i s employees.
I n Imo S t a t e enough funds a r e n o t a l l o c a t e d
t o s c h o o l s t o meet t h e s e demands and under such
s i t u a t i o n one canno t b u t s e e a l a i s s e z - f a i r e
a t t i t u d e i n t h e a d m i n i s t r a t i v e system because o f ,
t h e a t t i t u d e s o f t e a c h e r s , who a r e aggr ieved w i t h
a s i t u a t i o n where t h e y a r e d e p r i v e d o f t h e i r
l e g i t i m a t e r i g h t s .
NIVOEU (1980 : 1 14) obsc rved t h a t :
Tod2.y s t n f f seem t o come and go i n
r a n i d s u c c e s s i o n i n most of our s c h o o l s .
Many of t h e s t a f f z r e young, many
a m b i t i o u s f o r q u i c k prombt ion , n o t a l l
r e a l l y want t o t e a c h b u t s e e t h e
p r o f e s s i o n o n l y as a s t e p p i n g s t o n e t o
something t h e y c o n s i d e r ' h i g h e r ' 2nd
' b e t t e r 1 and l e s s e x e r t i n g and t h i s
makes t h e p r i n c i p a l I s t a s k o f knowing
each member o f h i s s t a f f and k n i t t i n g
them t o g e t h e r a d i f f i c u l t oneff .
Lack of s u f f i c i e n t funds i s p e r h a p s t h e most
s e r i o u s hand icap f o r e f f e c t i v e a d m i n i s t r a t i o n , E f f i -
c i e n t a d m i n i s t r a t i o n i n v o l v e s p l a n n i n g ahead.
P l a n n i n g means p u r p o s e f u l p r e p a r a t i o n i n advance o f
what i s t o b e done i n f u t u r e . It i s a w i s e way o f
avod ing t h e f l u s t r a t i o n o f hciving t o do t h i n g s a t
t h e l as t rninut e, 3 a n s which a n t i c i p a t e d expans ion
i n one segment o f t h e s c h o o l must c o n s i d e r expans ion
i n t h e c o r r e s p o n d i n g segments. For example, an
i n c r e a s e d s c h o o l enrolment demands expans ion of s t a f f ,
c l a s s r o o m s , t o i l e t s and p laygrounds . Funds were n o t
a v a i l a b l e t o p r o v i d e t h e s e f a c i l i t i e s when N i g e r i a
w i t n e s s e d enrolment e x p l o s i o n i n s c h o o l s as a- r e s u l t
o f t h e i n t r o d u c t i o n o f t h e U n i v e r s a l Prirnqry
Educa t ion (UPE). T h i s s i t u a t i o n rrF,s obse rved by
Oz,igi (1979 : 20) when h e h i g h l i g h t e d t h e c u r r e n t
p r o b l e n ~ i f i s c h o o l m ~ n a ~ e m e n t 2,s ' @ r i s i n g from h i g h
r a t e o f e x p l o s i o n as a r e s u l t o f e x p l o s i v e and . , .
i n c r e a s i n g demand f o r educa t ion . . , , .whish l e ? d s
t o uncontrol .a .ble enrolment growth and i n c r e a s e i n c l a s s s i z e f 7 .
I n s u f f i c i e n c g o r n o n - a v a i l a b i l i t y o f f u n d s can I
t o t d l y c r i p p l e e f f e c t i v e t e a c h e r educa t ion . Hence, I
Plumer (1924 : 3 1 ) m a i n t a i n e d t h a t , 'IHe who wants
g r e a t n e s s s h o u l d b e r e a d y t o f i n a n c e i tfr . One can I i
r i g h t l y a ~ p l y Plumer Is i d e a t o e d u c a t i o n a l .. .
9dmin i s t rp . t ion . T h i s i s s o because non-payment of I
t e a c h e r s s a 1 9 r i e s can make t e a c h e r s n o t t o t e a c h w e l l , ,
T e a c h e r s may n o t s u p e r v i s e t h e i r s t u d e n t s v e r y w e l l 1 !
d u r i n g t h e i r P r p c t i c e TenchJng i f funds a r e n o t
p r o v i d e d f o r t h e e x e r c i s e . Teaching and l e a r n i n g
may n o t b e e f f e c t i v e l y p r a c t i s e d when a p p r o p r i a t e and
s u f f i c i e n t r e s o u r c e m n t e r i a l s a r e n o t provided.
R e a c t i n g t o t h e above, Rosentengel and Estmond
(1957 : 2 8 ) s t r e s s e d t h ~ . t i%dequate s u p p o r t i s b a s i c
t o t h e e f f e c t i v e f u n c t i o n i n g of e v e r y a s p e c t of s c h o o l
programmefi, By i m p l i c a t i o n a d e q u a t e s u p p o r t c o u l d I
b e s e e n t o r e a n t h e r o l e of f i n a n c e i n any s c h o o l 1
I *
system. T h i s s h o u l d b e s o because Campbell and Co, I !
('1977 : 144) s t a t e d t h a t , v v I ~ a money economy such as 4 d
o u r s , t h e s e r v i c e s of p e r s o n n e l , t h e b u i l d i n g s ,
equipment , t h e s u g r l i e s an6 o t h e r i t e m s n e c e s s l r y t o i \
t h e o p e r a t i o n of a s c h o o l system must b e p a i d fo rP1 . I Campbe l l ' s i s an i d e a l which shou ld b e s e e n i n e v e r y t
o r g s n i s a t i o n . I n N i g e r i a , such d o e s n o t o p e r a t e as I
evidenced from t h e p r i n c i p a l s cons t an t compla in t s
and demand f o r money, Th i s unp l ea san t f i n a n c i a l
handicap f r u s t r a t e s t h e e f f o r t s of t h e dedic; l ted
p r i n c i p a l s and t h u s r e n d e r s t h e i r a d m i n i s t r 2 t i o n
i n e f f e c t i v e . The s i t u a t i o n i s worse i n tea-chers
c o l l e g e s where e x t r s funds a r e expected because of t
t h e need t o f i n a n c e pr(n.ctice t e ach ing , r e s o u r c e
c e n t r e s , p rov i s ion of aud io-v i sua l a i d s f o r t h e
t e ~ . c h e r t r a i n e e s t o meet u p t h e i r r euu i rements f o r
1 ea rn ing ,
P R O V I S I O N OF IN-XUCTURAL KACILITIES -- -- - -- --* In t h i s s e c t i o n t h e w r i t e r emmined
t h e i n f r a s t r u c t u r a l f a c i l i t y p o s i t i o n of Imo S t a t e
t w c h e r t r a i n i n g c o l l e g e s through t h e views
expressed by o t h e r s c h o l a r s , '
Campbell-, ?. R, and o t h e r s (1977 : 144) s t a t e d
t h a t , "Bui ld ings , equipment and s u ~ p l i e s a r e ve ry
e s s e n t i a l f o r t h e o p e r a t i o n of educa t i ona l progr~.mrnes~.
The Min i s t ry of Educetion and t h e S t a t e Boards
i n p a r t i c u l a r a r e r e s p o n s i b l e f o r f i n a n c i n g Teacher
T r a i n i n g I n s t i t u t i o n s a s w e l l as p rov id ing
i n f r a s t r u c t u r a . 1 f a c i l i t i e s , t o s c h o o l s t o h e l p
p r i n c i p a l s and t h e i r s t a f f do t h e i r work wi th l e s s
d i f f i c u l t i e s , A c l o s e l ook i n t o t h e laws o r e d i c t s
s e t t i n g u p many c f t h e s c h o o l b o a r d s r e v e a l t h a t
t h e o b j e c t i v e s f o r which t h e b o a r d s were e s t a b l i s h e d ,
a r e n o t b e i n g f a i t h f u l l y f u l f i - l l e d . These b o a r d s ,
p e r h a p s n o t r e a l i s i n g t h e magnitude m d e s s e n t i a l
n a t u r e of t h e i r a s s i g n m e n t s , are t o o s low, and some-
t i m e s t h e s lowness b o a r d e r s on l a z i n e s s , They a r e
Yet t o conv ince t h e g e n e r a l p u b l i c t h a t t h e y a r e
d i s c h a r g i n g t h e i r r e s p o n s i b i l i t i e s h o n e s t l y , 7
s e r i o u s l y and w i t h d e s p a t c h ,
Schools need t o b e b u i l t , and o l d o n e s r e n o v a t e d ,
r e p a i r e d and proper l -y m a i n t a i n e d , Many o f t h e
s c h o o l s a r e never v i s i t e d by e i t h e r t h e b o a r d s 4
o f f i c i a l s (Rduca t ion O f f i c e r s , S e n i o r S u p e r v i s o r s
and A s s i s t a n t S u p e r v i s o r s ) o r o f f i c i a l s from t h e I
M i n i s t r y of Educa t ion (Chief I n s p e c t o r s , Area o r d
Zonal I n s p e c t o r s and A s s i s t a n t I n s p e c t o r s ) , t o s e e #
t h e d e p l o r a b l e c o n d i t i o n s o f some of t h e s c h o o l s , e s p a c i a l l y t h o s e i n remote a r e a s . They o fben complain
o f l a c k o f o f f i c i a l v a n s o r poor a c c e s s r o a d s o r t h a t
c l a i m s made a f t e r v i s i t i n g remote s c h o o l s a r e never
pa id . A s a r e s u l t t h e y o n l y r e s t r i c t t h e i r i n s p e c t i o n s
o r v i s i t s t o t h e few s c h o o l s w i t h i n t h e u r b a n towns,
d
T e a c h e r s need b e t t e r t r e a t m e n t , b e t t e r under-
s t a n d i n g and more synpa tby from t h e s c h o o l boards .
Schoo l s need t o b e b u i l t , equipped and main ta ined .
& A t p r e s e n t t h e b o a r d s do n o t seem t o b e aware o f
t h e d e p l ~ r ~ b l e , c o n d i t i o n s , o f o u r . s c h o o l s - l a c k , o f
good b u i l d i n g s , equipment , seats , t a b l e s , w a t e r ,
l i g h t , t r a n s p o r t f a c i l i t i e s , s c i e n c e l a b o r a t o r i e s ,
a r t workshops o r rooms, games equipments , modern
t o i l e t f a c i l i t i e s , p laygrounds , a g r i c u l t u r a l equip- d
ments , t e a c h i n g a i d s o f a l l s o r t s , k i t c h e n s , , , I
c l a s s r o o m s , d i n n i n g h a l l s , d o r m i t o r i e s , t e x t b o o k s , 4
e t c . and where p r o v i d e d , t h e y a r e n e i t h e r ep6/
n o r a p p r o p r i a t e .
Morphet and Co (1963 : 413) m a i n t a i n e d t h a t , I 1
l ' O b s ~ l e ~ c e n c e , o v e r - crowded c la s s rooms , and doub le
s e s s i o n s i n many sys tems need t o b e e l i m i n a t e d
th rough new c o n s t r ~ c t i o n ~ ~ . The r e s e a r c h e r s t r o n g l y
s h a r e s t h e view el~pressed above. In N i g e r i a t h e
problem of i n f r a s t r u c t u r e i s a g g r a v a t e d b y i n c r e a s i n g
d e s i r e f o r mass e d u c a t i o n . I n Imo S t a t e i n f r a s t -
r u c t u r a l f a c i l i t i e s a r e i n a d e q u x t e and u n s a t i s f a c t o r y
i n t e a c h e r t r a i n i n g c o l l e g e s r e s u l t i n g from p o p u l a t i o n
e x p l o s i o n i n schoo7. enrolment s h c e t h e i n t r o d u c t i o n
o f t h e U n i v e r s a l P r i ~ g r y Educat ion (UPE). Lack o f
enough accommodation and equipment h a s r e s u l t e d t o
c l a s s e s b e i n g r u n i n ' S h i f t s ' o r ' S e s s i o n s v as
Morphet p u t s i t i n o r d e r t o c o n t r o l and accommodate
t h e s o many s t r e a m s c r e a t e d i n schoo l s . The
a v a i l a b l e b u i l d i n g s a r e never f u r n i s h e d o r equipped,
h p h a s i s i n g on t h e degree o f i n f r a s t r u c t u r a l ,
def f i c i e n c y i n t e a c h e r s co l l . eges , .Anyanw~ (1981 : 2 5 )
d i s c l o s e d s h o r r i n ~ t h e growth r a t e i n 7 o p u l a t i o n and - f a c i l i t i e s o f t h e Bishop L,sbrey Teacher T r a i n i n g
2
C o l l e g e #, I r e t e , i n t e n y e a r s from 1970 as fo l lows : -
I n P a o n h d F a c i l i t i e s
Sample I Bishop Lasbrey Col lege , I r e t t e
-- .. ----
The t a b l e above e x p l a i n s t h e degree o f
inadequacy of i n f r a s t r u c t u r e under which t h e
Teacher T r a i n i n g Col.l.eges a r e s u b j e c t e d t o
f u n c t i o n , It i s a shock t o n o t e t h ~ t e i g h t
p E y s i c a l p e r m ~ n e n t e l a ss rooms which s e r v e d 240 d I
s t u d e n t s i n 1970, cou ld a lso s e r v e 1 ,270 s t u d e n t s
i n t h e 1978/79 s e s s i o n as t h e t a b l e i n d i c a t e s .
I n a s i t u ~ t i o n such as t h i s s t u d e n t s c o u l d n o t be
expec ted t o f u n c t i o n e f f e c t i v e l y , Rout ine
a c t i v i t i e s may n o t b e p o s s i b l y d i s c h a r g e d
a c c o r d i n g l y , Th i s s t a t e o f a f f a i r s g i v e s r i s e
t o d i v e r s e problems which t o a l a r g e e x t e n t impede
t h e smooth a d m i n i s t r a t i o n of t e a c h e r s ' c o l l e g e s i n
t h e S t a t e .
THF- RClT.\T COPs;7, JCT BETWEEN THE MIRISTRY OF - EDUC ATIOrT AND T ~ ~ S T A T E EDUC f lTION BO 4RD: -
Thompson (1977) noted t h a t t h e s t r u c t u r e of
any o r g a n i s a t i o n i s t h e i n t e r n a l d i f f e r e n t i a t i o n *A
and p a t t e r n i n g o f r e l a t i o n s h i p s between t h e v a r i o u s
p o s i t i o n s and r o l e s i n t h e e n t e r p r i s e . When t h e
S t a t e E d u c ~ . t i o n Board was s e t u p i t s r o l e s were
c l e a r l y d i f f e r e n t i a t e d from t h o s e o f t h e M i n i s t r y
of Educat ion , b u t one s e e s t h a t l a t e r i n t h e c o u r s e
o f p e r f o r m i n g t h e s e r o l e s , one t ended t o perform
t h e r o l e s which were supposed t o b e per formed by
t h e o t h e r , .4s t i m e went on t h e r o l e s o f t h e
S t a t e Educa t ion Boards c o u l d no l o n g e r b e
d i f f e r e n t i a t e d from t h e r o l e s of t h e p r i n c i p a l s
o f s c h o o l s ,
T h i s n o t i o n c o u l d b e w e l l u n d e r s t o o d from
t h e r e v i e w o f t h e s e t u p o f t h e Rducat ion Roards
which c a n e n l i g h t e n u s on s ~ e c i f i c r o l e s s e t a s i d e
f o r each o f t h e two b o d i e s - t h e M i n i s t r y o f
E d u c a t i o n and t h e S t a t e Educa t ion Board.
B e f o r e t h e e s t a b l i s h m e n t o f t h e School Boards,
t h e M i n i s t r y of EducrQt ion was i n c o n t r o l of t h e
Government Schoo l s and v o l u n t a r y agency s c h o o l s ,
b u t s i n c e t h e c r e a t i o l i o f t h e School Boards
c o n f u s i o n seemed t o have s e t i n which h a s h e l p e d
t o p a r a l y s e t h e a d m i n i s t r a t i v e and s u p e r v i s o r y
f u n c t i o n s i n o u r e d u c a t i o n a l i n s t i t u t i o n s . . -
From t h e works o f Lewis (1965 : 2 8 ) and
Rot imi (1951 : 7 0 ) we came t o know e x a c t l y t h e
s i t u a t i o n under which t h e s c h o o l Boards were
e s t a b l i s h e d , According- t o them t h e r e was
d i f f e r e n c e Fetween t h e p r e s e n t s c h o ~ l b o a r d s an.d
t h e c o l o n i a l s c h o o l boa rds . The p r e s e n t s c h o o l
b o a r d s i n N i g e r i a u n d e r d i f f e r e n t a p p e l l a t i o n s
, by v a r i o u s S t a t e s o f F i g e r i a - School Boards,
4
S t a t e Boards of Educa t ion , S t a t e Educa t ion Boards
o r Commissions a r e v e r y f a m i l i a r t o many p e o p l e i n . I
N i g e r i a , p a r t i c u l a r l y t e r c h . e r s , p u ~ i l s and p a r e n t s . 2
According t o th.em, t h e School Bo,rds as we know them
t o d a y a r e o f r e c e n t c r e a t i o n . They a r e q u i t e
d i f f e r e n t from t h e C o l o n i a l Boards o f Educat ion
e n a c t e d by t h e N!est A f r i c a n Educat ion ~ r d i n m c e of
1882, and t h e board o f governors , which was formed
The p r e s e n t s c h o o l b o z r d s came i n t o b e i n g as
a r e s u l t o f t h e g e n e r a l s t r i k e by t h e N i g e r i a n ,
t e a c h e r s i n 1964, when t h e i r rminerous a p p e a l s t o
t h e Volun ta ry Agencies f o r b e t t e r s a l a r i e s and
improved c o n d i t i o n s o f s e r v i c e were i g n o r e d . When
i t was r e n l i s e d t h p t t h e t e ~ c h e r s ' i n d u s t r i a l a c t i o n was ~ a r a l y s i n ~ t h e t e a c h i n g s e r v i c e t h r o u g h o u t t h e
Country, t h e F e d e r a l Government s e t UTY a N a t i o n a l
J o i n t Counci l f o r T e a c h e r s i n 1965, Tbe Counci l w a s empowered t o c o n s i d e r t h e g r a d i n g s , r e m u n e r a t i o n s
A
and c o n d i t i o n s o f s e r v i c e f o r t e a c h e r s and t o mL&e reconniendat ions. I n t h e s e s s i o n a l p a p e r (No.2 of
1965) t h e F e d e r a l Government accep ted among o t h e r t h i n g s
t h e e s t a b l i s h m e n t of School Boards,
s t r i k e 2 c t i o n s a s a r e s u l t of , l , ck of r e g u l a r i t y i n
t h e payment of t h e i r s a l a r i e s , most of t h e S t a t e s
have s t a r t e d handing over some schoo l s t o t h e i r
p r ev ious owners.
Though t h e s t a t u t o r y f u n c t i o n s of t h e school I
Boards vary from S t a t e t o S t a t e , c e r t a i n f e a t u r e s 4 I
a r e common t o most of them, namely, t hey pos se s s t h e # a
powers t o apno in t , p r m o t e , t r a n s f e r and e x e r c i s e
g e n e r a l d i s c i n l i n a r y contro3. over a l l t e a c h e r s under them. They a l s o pay t e 3 c b e r s 1 s a l a r i e s and
al lowances.
I n some S t a t e s t h e boards undertook t h e
management, r e p a i r s , and maintenance of educa t iona l
i n s t i t u t i o n s ; review- of budgets , a sd t h e co-ordination
of l o c a l educa t ion plans . Besides, i n S t a t e s where
t h e r e w a s S t a t e c o n t r o l of educnt ion , i t was t h e
t a s k of t h e school boards t o admin i s t e r t h e u n i f i e d
t e s c h i n g s e r v i c e f o r t e a c h e r s i n p l a c e o f t h e
government and vo lun t a ry agency a u t h o r i t i e s . The ,
composit ion of t h e boards v a r i e d from S t a t e t o S t a t e ,
d-epending on t h e p r e v a i l i n g c i rcumstances . I n some S t a t e s where schools were many and t h e number of - -
t e n c h e r s very l a r g e , such as i n Imo S t a t e , t h e r e was
u s u a l l y a c e n t r a l board which c a t e r e d f o r a l l
t e a c h e r s i n t h e pos t primary schools , and l o c a l
o r d i v i s i o n a l o r zonal educa t ion boards which handle
A l l t h e governments o f t h e F e d e r a t i o n of 2
N i g e r i a accep ted t h e e s t n b l i s h m e n t of School Boards,
which when e s t a b l i s h e d would s e r v e t h e c9 ,pac i ty of
Volun ta ry 4gency Tec?chersl S e r v i c e Board f o r a l l
tc:'chers i n v o l u n t a r y agency i n s t i t u t i o n s . I f t h e s c h o o l b o a r d s were t o f u n c t i o n p r o p e r l y , s c h o o l s had
n o t o n l y t o come under one c o n t r o l l i n g a u t h o r i t y
b u t i n a d d i t i o n had t o b e graded, T h i s meant t h a t
a l l t e a c h e r s would cone under one s t a f f l is t t o
e n a b l e t h e a u t h o r i t y s e e them 9n a compact form,
T h i s was why t h e FeCYeral Government (1967) s e t u.q
h s a b i a Commission, commonly c a l l e d ' Cornnittee on t h e
Grad ing Of Duty P o s t s i n Volun ta ry Agency Educa t ion
I n s t i t u t i o n s ' . The recommendations of t h e Commission had s i n c e been a c c e p t e d and adopeed by t h e
governments o f t h e F e d e r a t i o n . The former Western
S t a t e o f N i g e r i a w g s t h e f i r s t t o s e t u p t h e s c h o o l ,
b o a r d on J u l y 1 , 1968, fo l lowed by t h e former
Midwestern S t a t e o f N i g e r i a on J u l y 30, 1968.
The S t a t e s i n t h e former E a s t e r n Region o f N i g e r i a
began t o e s t a b l i s h t h e i r s c h o o l b o a r d s a t t h e end o f 1 t h e C i v i l War i n 1970. Todzy n e a r l y a l l t h e
\ n i n e t e e n S t a t e s o f t h e F e d e r a t i o n have s c h o o l bo=ds.
Most S t a t e s have s i n c e t a k e n o v e r comple te c o n t r o l o f
a l l s c h o o l s i n t h e i r S t q t e s . However, due t o t h e I
N a t i o n ' s economic d e p r e s s i o n and t h e f r e q u e n t t e a c h e r s
t h e affairs o f t h e t e a c h e r s i n t h e p r imary s c h o o l s ,
I n any S t a t e t h e bo3rd w a s no rmal ly mad.e u p o f a I
f u l l - t i m e c h a i r m m , two o r t h r e e f u l l - t i m e members
and a few p a r t - t i m e members. Each board was g i v e n
a number of o f f i c i a l s who h e l p e d i n d i f f e r e n t
c a p a c i t i e s i n c a r r y i n g o u t t h e b o a r d ' s e x e c u t i v e
f u n c t i o n s . The h.ecad of t h e o f f i c i a l s w a s d e s i g n a t e d
' S e c r e t a r y 1 o r Chief Educa t ion O f f i c e r .
The School Boards came under heavy attacks
from q u a r t e r s i n , N i g e r i a , incluct.ing t h e p r e s s , gover3--
men t s , academics , t e a c h e r s , p a r e n t s and even
s t u d e n t s , The a c c u s a t i o n s r anged from f a v o u r i t i s m ,
c o r r u p t i o n , u n f a i r t ' reztment and l a c k o f i n t e r e s t
i n t e a c h e r s ' a f f a i r s t o f a i l u r e t o r a i s e s t a n d a r d s
o f e d u c a t i o n , Frequent d i s s o l u t i o n s o f t h e b o a r d s a-v # # I .. -
CalaBar , t h e c r i t i c s emnhasised were s i g n s o f
weakness on t h e p a r t of t h e b o a r d s and t h e i r f a i l u r e
t o meet t h e s t a n d a r d s s e t f o r them by t h e governments
o f t h e F e d e r a t i o n .
Speaking at a symposium org,mised by t h e
s t a f f and s t u d e n t s of F e d e r a l Government Co l l ege ,
Warri (December 6, 1975) Dr . Oroge, head of t h e
Department o f Arts of t h e I n s t i t u t e o f Cont inuing ,
Educa t ion , Benin C i t y , c a l l e d on t h e governments o f
tHe I?eder,l Republic of N ige r i a t o d i s s o l v e n l l ,
forms o f educa t i on b o ~ . r d s i n t h e coun t ry , because
acco rd ing t o him, t h e y c o n s t i t u t e d a nu i sance t o t h e
educa t i on system. He accused t h e boards o f l @ z i n e s s ,
f a v o u r i t i s m and i n d i f f e r e n c e t o t h e a f f a i r s of
t e a c h e r s ,
The former M i l i t a r y Government of Bendel S t ~ t e ,
Cole George I n n i (on 3 0 t h January , 1976) i n a speech A -
a t t h e i n a u g u r a l ceremony of t h e r e c o n s t i t u t e d Bendel I
S t a t e E d u c ~ t i o n Board, accused t h e former board o f
i n d d i o u s and a r b i t r a r y management o f t e a c h e r s I
a f f a i r s , which, a cco rd ing t o him, czused a c r i s i s
o f conf idence . He condemned t h e methods used by t h e ,
board f o r p o s t i n g , t r a n s f e r , promotions and s a l a r y
g r ad i ngs , and r e g r e t t e r l t h e l a c k of coope ra t i on
between t h e board and I ' l in i s t ry of Education.
I n ano the r development, Aghenta ( 1 976 : 51 )
exp l a ined t h a t "The boa rds exper ience a r e a l c o n f l i c t
Of i n t e r e s t from t h e M i n i s t r i e s of Education, I n
some c a s e s t h e c o n f l i c t l e a d s t o open c l a shes . The
bone of c o n t e n t i o n i s over t h e c o n t r o l of t e a c h e r s ,
which t h e v3 r ious i n s t r u m e n t s s e t t i n g up t h e bonrds
Bad p l aced under t h e a u t h o r i t y of t h e boards1f. Some
i n d i v i d u a l s i n t h e M i n i s t r i e s of Echcat ion kave
r ega rded t h i s as str iming them o f f t h e i r
t r a d i t i o n a l a u t h o r i t y over t h e t e a c h e r s ; hence
t h e r e i s much b i t t e r n e s s and l a c k of cooperation.
Attempts were be ing made i n some q u a r t e r s t o r e w r i t e
some paragraphs i n t h e Education Edict so t h a t t h e
boards would come d i r e c t l y under t h e M i n i s t r i e s of
Education.
Under t h i s circumstance, t h e school p r i n c i p a l found i t d i f f i c u l t t o r e c o n c i l e t h i s r o l e c o n f l i c t
i s s u e wi th h i s a d m i n i s t r a t i v e p o s i t i o n i n t h e
school , e s p a c i a l l y where h i s t e a c h e r s were no t
s a t i s f i e d i n e i t h e r s ide . For example, t h e
Graduate Teachers Assoc ia t ion , bo th i n t h e Bendel d
and Eas te rn S t a t e s , t h e NCX Teachers t Associa t ion
i n Western S t a t e s , and t h e Grade Two Teachers t
~ s s o c i a t i o n s i n many of t h e S t a t e s had i n one way
o r t h e o t h e r t h r e a t e n e d t o d e c l a r e t r a d e d i s p u t e s
.over t h e de lay of t h e School Bonrd i n c a r r y i n g ou t
promotion e x e r c i s e s f o r t eache r s .
SUMMARY :
E f f e c t i v e a d m i n i s t r a t i o n , supe rv i s ion and
i n s t r u c t i o n undoubtedly can h e l p improve t h e q u a l i t y
of educa t ion and t h u s r a i s e our hope f o r t h e
r e s t o r a t i o n of s t anda rds i n educa t ion which i s s a i d
t o b e f a l l i n g . The N a t i o n a l P o l i c y on e d u c a t i o n
(1977 : 4) s t r e s s e d t h e need f o r q u a l i t y educa t ion , , 1
When i t d i r e c t e d t h a t , t h s q u a l i t y of i n s t r u c t i o n
a t a l l l e v e l s had t o b e o r i e n t e d towards i n c u l c a t i n g
r e s p e c t f c r t h e wort& and d i g n i t y o f
i n d i v i d u a l s ;
f a i t h i n m s n P s a b i l i t y t o make r a t i o n a l
d e c i s i o n s ;
mora l and S p i r i t u a l v a l u e s i n i n t e r p e r s o n a l
and human r e l a t i o n s h i p s ;
s h a r e d r e s p o n s i b i l i t y f o r t h e Common
good of t h e s o c i e t y ;
r e s p e c t f o r t h e d i g n i t y o f l a b o u r ; and
promot ion o f t h e emot iona l , p h y s i c a l and
p s y c h o l o g i c a l h e a l t h .of a l l Chi ldren .
The s u c c e s s of any system of e d u c a t i o n i s h i n g e d on
p r o p e r a d m i n i s t r a t i o n which i n c l u d e s o r g a n i s n t i o n 4
and s t r u c t u r e , p r o p r i e t o r s h i p and c o n t r o l , i n s p e c t i o n 4
and s u p e r v i s i o n . The objectives nf p l a n n i n g ,
a d m i n i s t r a t i v e , i n s ~ e c t i o n , s u p e r v i s o r y and f i n a n c i a l
s e r v i c e s i n e d u c a t i o n a c c o r d i n g t o t h e p o l i c y were:
( 1 ) t o e n s u r e a d e q u a t e and e f f e c t i v e p l a n n i n g f o r a l l e d u c a t i o n a l s e r v i c e s ;
(2) t o p ronote c f f i c i e n t a d m i n i s t r a t i v e and
malagenent c o n t r o l f o r t h e maintenance
and improvement of t h e system;
( 3 ) t o ensure q u a l i t y c o n t r o l through r e g u l a r
i n s p e c t i o n and cont inuous supe rv i s ion of
i n s t r u c t i o n a l and o t h e r education,?l s e r v i c e s ;
(4) t o provide adequate and G a l a n c d f i n a n c i a l
suppor t f o r a l l educa t iona l s e r v i c e s ;
.i - - -; - proper a6n l in i s t r a t i on or s u p e r v i s i o n i s no t rnefde
L t i s obvious t h a t t h e r i g h t type of va lues may not
3, inculcatecl i n Pur c h i l d r e n who a r e t h e f u t u r e '
Leaders of our country.
From our review i t aould be seen t h a t
a3rninis t ra t iOn e s s e n t i a l l y concerns i t s e l f wi th
j ~ l a n n i n g , c o n t r o l l i n g and coordinati .ng f a c t o r
r csources , t h e l i f e and behaviour of people i n an
o rgnn i sa t ion . S p e c i f i c a l l y educz t iona l admin i s t r a t i on
~~evc l .ops and r e g u l a t e s t h e dec i s ion making process i n
the most e f f e c t i v e manner p o s s i b l e towards t h e
achievement of t h e expected educa t iona l ob j ec t ives .
According t o t h e works reviewed by t h e w r i t e r ,
, - , c r y f ~ r m a 1 orgnnisaticjn must have 2 f i n a n c i a l base
:or t h c e f f e c t i v c ope ra t ion , I n educa t iona l
~ d m i n i s t r a t i o n f i nance i s c r u c i a l f o r t h e maintenance
of t h e v a r i o u s segments of e d u c ~ ~ t i o n a l i n s t i t u t i o n s ,
Teachers who a r e engaged i n t h e t r a i n i n g of t enchers
have t o b e provided c e r t a i n b e n e f i t s a s i n c e n t i v e s o r
compensations t o moti-vnte thcm and r e t a i n them i n t h e I I
j o ~ , , Teaching a i d s , i n f r a s t r u c t u r a l f ? c i l i t i c s , bu i ld -
i ngs , playgrounds, o f f i c e s t a t i o n a r i e s , acconmodation-
f o r t h e s t a f f , job s e c u r i t y , p ronot ion o p p o r t u n i t i e s ,
prompt payment o f t e a c h e r s s a l a r i e s - a l l h e l p t o
reduce s t r a i n s and s t r e s s e ~ on t h e p a r t of t h e school - -
a d m i n i s t r a t o r a d t h u s m,&e h i s a d n i n i s t r a t i o n
e f f ec t ive .
Campbel, Morphet and A n y m whose views have
been d i scussed , a l l agree t h a t i n f r a s t r u c t u r a l
f a c i l i t i e s a r e impor t an t ly unavoidable i n m y
educa t iona l i n s t i t u t i o n , I n Niger ia and Irno S t a t e
i n p a r t i c u l a r d e s T i t e t h e s h i f t i n g system c l a s s e s
m e somctirnes conducted in t h e open f i e l d s under t h e
sheds of t r e e s due t o l a c k of accommodntion, Under
such c i rcumstance both t h e a d m i n i s t r a t o r s and t h e i r
s t a f f cannot show t h e i r b e s t i n performing t h e i r du t i e s .
The p o s i t i o n of i n f r a s t r u c t u r e observed by Anyanwu
i n h i s school i s comnon t o a l l t h e t r a i n i n g c o l l e g e s
in Ino State . I n t h e Women Tra in ing College, Afikpo
Where t h e r e s e ~ v c h e r b u i l t up h i s exper iences , t h e
p o s i t i o n o f i n f r a s t r u c t u r e i s no th ing t o 4
home about , wi th p a r t i c u l a r r e f e r e n c e t o
w r i t e
playgrounds.
S ince t h e p a s t f ou r s e s s i o n s s t u d e n t s have no t
p r c x t i s c d s p o r t s and have n o t been o r g a n i s i n g t h e
,annual i n t e r -house s p o r t s compe t i t i ons which every
i n s t i t u t i o n i s supposed t o o rgnn i se o c c a s i o n a l l y ; y e t t h e a u t h o r i t i e s . concerned have never querriecl
t h e awful s i t u a t i o n , We a r e a l l aware t h a t i n
N i g e r i a s p o r t s habe formed p a r t of our l i f e o r
c u l t u r e , Such i s evidenced by t h e space a l l o t e d t o 4
i t i n t h e p r i n t e d media, r a d i o a d t e l e v i s i o n ; t h e
number of s t a d i a and t h e amount c f time spen t i n t h e
evenings a t s p o r t a r e m . C u l t u r a l l y boys and g i r l s
a r e brought UP t o i n t e r n a l i z e from e a r l y s t n g e s
t h e i r a d u l t s e x r o l e s . The boys are expected t o
p a r t i c i p a t e i n s p o r t and o t h e r n c t i v i t i e s which
dem,and ~ h y s i c a l e x e r t i o n and prowess t h a t a r e marks
of maleness, The g i r l s a s f u t u r e mothers a r e expected t o be f r a g i l e , d a i n t y and a t t r a c t i v e s i n c e t h e i r r o l e i s mainly t h a t of chj.ld b e a r i n g or home
keeping,
Lever (1979) noted t h a t
" the World of p l ay and g m e s a c t i v i t y
may b e a major f o r c e i n t h e development
and p e r p e t u a t i o n of d i f f e r e n t i a l
a b i l i t i e s Between t h e s exes - d i f f e r e n c e s
t h a t r e i n f o r c e t h e p r e p a r a t i o n of g i r l s
46
fn" t r n c l i t i o n a l socio-emotional r o l e s ,
Tk? re fo r c c l l l t u r a l i m p o s i t i o n on t h e female
f?::;nficially i n t h e ITigerian Soc i e ty may lead t o
a d i f f z r e n t i a l - s o c i a l i z a t i o n as w e l l as h e r
phj_:t-?ii.ocd s o c i a l i z , c t i o n i n t o s p o r t s . The above
-j ~ d i - 7 t e G -Lo us t h e value of s p o r t s t o boys and
t!:c T p 9 v i ~ i o n of s i z e a B l e p laygrounds f o r s p o r t s ,
~ , r ~ c ' c i c c s re n o t p rov ided , development of
i t 'iNerr b o i l s down t o t h e f a c t t h a t when d
- L . - , - O L E E.re de f l i c i en t i n i n f r u s t r u c t u r e s , t h e
--.::Lr,~ip& a: e impa i red because t h e working tc lo ls f o r h i l l a d h i s s t a f f a r e i n s h o r t supp ly To? any e f f e c t i v e c r s u c c e s s f u l a d m i n i s t r a t i o n ,
17rc)m our rev iew we found 0u.t t h a t t h e
~ d a t l c n s h i p s between t h e Min i s t r y of Education
2i :~ l t h c StcLte Sducat ion Board and between t h e two
Coards and t h e p r i n c i p a l s o f school@ a r e n o t
.;.r?rc!inl due "c o c o n f l i c t o f i n t e r e s t i n t h e m 3 k n n d
.!-7-c of t h e s e t ups , The rez.snn why t h e schoo l
The boards d e t d with a very l n r g e number o f
s choo l s and t e a c h e r s i n many S t n t e s such as i n , , ,
Ino S t a t ? , whose nroblems of r ec ru i tmen t , pos t ing ,
t r a n s f e r , promotion and d i s c i p l i n e a r e a legion.
The s i z e of e~.ch of t h e boards i s minimal, u s u a l l y
t h r e e full-- t ime, and two o r t h r e e p a r t - t i n e members
ns a l r eady s a i d , wi th a ske le ton s e r v i c e of o f f i c i a l s ,
many o f whom hz.ve no exper ience i n school adn in i s t -
r a t i o n o r superv is ion . These problems a r e f u r t h e r
conpouMkd By two c r u c i a l f a c t o r s , namely, l a c k of
funds and l a c k of cooperat ion from t h e Minis t ry of
Education, The i s s u e could only be reso lved by t h e
governments i n power re-examining t h e i r admSnis t rnt ive
s t r u c t u r e s and determining and c l e ~ r l y d i f f e r e n t l a t -
i n g a c t u a l r o l e excec ta t inns of e ~ . c h s e t up based
on proper ly de f ined goa l s f o r each of t h e board ies .
Looking a t t h e s t r u c t u r e of an e n t e r p r i s e as
t h e p a t t e r n i n g of r e l a t i o n s h i p s formerly e s t s b l i s h e d
f o r t h e achievement of management o b j e c t i v e s , Eyre
(1982 : 61) p o s i s t e d t h a t , <'It i s through t h i s
Crrmework of r e s p o n s i b i l i t i e s , a u t h o r i t y and d u t i e s
t h a t a l l t h e r e s o u r c e s of an e n t e r p r i s e are brought
t oge the r and cowrdinated f o r t h e achievement of
a d m i n i s t r a t o r ' s c13>cctives~~.
On t h e i r n p o r t , ~ n c e P E c l e ~ r - c u t g o n l s i n -
an o r g a n i s , t i o n , TSowell (1966 : 16) s t a t e d t h a t : J
" I f i n an o r g n n i s o t i o n , t h e r e i s no c l e a r g o a l
o r if t h e r e n r e s e v e r a l competing gonls , , , . .. , t h e n members o f t h e o r g a n i s a t i o n will b e at c r o s s
purposes , m t h o r i t y and l e a d e r s h i p w i l l b e
unst ,&le and i t w i l l . be u n l i k e l y t h a t t h e
o r g a n i s a t i o n w i l l n a x i n i s c t h e p r o b a b i l i t y o f
g o a l a t t a i n m e n t p r .
The r e s e a r c h e r a g r e e s t h a t o n l y c l e a r - c u t # #
g o a l s , d i s t r i b u t i v e r o l e r e l n t i o n s h i p s , s t r o n g I
a d m i n i s t r q t i v e s t r u c t u r e , and above a l l
c c o p c r a t i ~ n of a l l concerned could compromise
t h e m i s u n d e r s t a n d i n g between t h e powers and t h e
s c h o o l p r i n c i p a l s o t h a t a s t r o n g and e f f e c t i v e
e f f e c t i v e s c h o o l A d m i n i s t r a t i o n c o u l d b e achieved.
RVSEARCH DESIGN OR PROCEDURES TYPE 7 --- --SLS AN:
T h i s s e c t i o n d e s c r i b e s t h c r e s e a r c h p rocedure ,
t y p e o f s t u d y , d e s c r i p t i o n o f t h e p o p u l a t i o n , t h e I
*
smip le , i n s t r u m e n t f o r dz.tz c o l l e c t i o n , r e l i a b i l i t y
2nd v a l i d i t y o f t h c instruments and dz.ta m , d y s i s
t echn ique .
TYPE OF STUDY: - The r e a c a r c h i s a s u r v e y s tudy . It a i m s a t
I
i d e n t i f y i n g n d r ; ~ i n i s t r a t i . v e problems, and t h e i r
% j c r c z u s e s i n t h e ~ . d n i n i s t r ~ ~ t i c n o f Imo S t a t e
Teacher Tro-ining Col leges .
ROPUL,9TIOP . a AND SAMPLE DESCRTPTION :
'i'hc t a r g e t p o p u l a t i o n f o r t h e s t u d y wcro
a11 t h c p r i n c i p a l s and t h e academic o r t u t o r i a l
s t a f f o f a11 t h e f o u r t e e n T e ~ ~ c h c r T r a i n i n g C o l l e g e s
i n h o S t a t c s c h o o l systcril. Based on t h c 1982/83
*adendc s e s s i o n , t h i s population^^ abou-t 520,
The p o p u l a t i o n d s c i n c l u d e d a11 t h e p r i n c i p a l
c f f i c e r s o f t h e M i n i s t r y o f Educat ion and t h e
S t a t e Educa-Lion Board i n t h e Stale, There were about
108 i n number i n t h i s cadre.
A t o t a l of about 260 t e s c h e r s including 'the
P r i n c i p a l s were taken from the nciioolc and about
54 p r i n c i p a l o f f i c e r s ware tsken from -the two
ins- t i tu- t ions - -the Mini c t r y of IXuc o-tion and 't he
S'ta'te Edu~a.ti012 AO ardn Selec t ion from e i t h e r s i d e
r ~ p r e c e n t s 50% of' t h e t o t a l populz-tion. One tab3e
was required showing -the names of in s - t l tu - t ions nnd
'the o f f i c i a l s se l ec ted f o r t h e s'tudy.
The method of s e l e c t i o n w a s by simple rmdom
ssinpling of 'the - t o t a l populn'tion.
--oLI -n r-- -*--r: -- -i_= - NAMS OF INSTITUTION TOTALI NO. OF
Macgregor T.T.C.Afikpo
.- --*-a( -r -=
Ministry of 12
S-tcte ~ l u c a t i o n Bonrd I 30
INS TRUMENTATION
The instruments were designed by t h e
reaearchcr himself. Ques t ionnai re was t h e main
instrument used. The r e sea rche r used a two poin t
s c a l e of agree and d isagree which was ind ica t ed
by the respondent t i c k i n g a r i g h t ( 4) i n s i d e the
box provided f o r t h a t purpose. Three s e t s of
ques t ionnai res were designed, one f o r t he p r inc ipa l s ,
t h e next f o r t he p r inc ipa l o f f i c e r s of t he Ministry
of Education and the S t a t e Education Board, and t h e
t h i r d f o r t h e s e l e c t e d teachers from the teacher
t r a i n i n g col leges . Eash was s t a r t e d with personal
d a t a , followed by o the r ques t ions b u i l t around
the research ques t ions ra i sed .
I n add i t ion t o the quest ionnaire , o r a l
in te rv iew was conducted t o cross-check the d a t a
c o l l e c t e d from t h e quest ionnaire . A t l e a s t t h ree
t o f o u r respondents were interviewed from each
group I
U&IDITY OF - THE INSTRUMENT
To a s c e r t a i n t h e v a l i d i t y o f t h e i n s t r u m e n t t o
1 ) : used f o r t h e s t u d y , t h e r e s e , z r c h e r s u b j e c t e d t h e
i';ems c f t h e i n s t r u ~ ~ e n t t o e x p e r t s o f schoc l
a G n i n i s t r n t i o n who were r e q u i r e ? o r requested. t o
i n d i v i d u a l l y c r i t i . s i z e t h e i t e m s and t o make
z u g g e s t i o n s t c t h e r e s e m c h e r f o r improvement.
The r e s o a r c h e r a n a l y s e d t h e r e s p o n s e s o b t a i n e d
m a p i l o t s t u d y t o o b t a i n t h e r e l i a b i l i t y o f t h e
; I q t rument Based on t h e s p l i t - h a l f t e c h n i q u e ,
PTiOFOSED DATA ANALYSIS .. -- Three r e s e ~ r c h q u e s t i o n s were ansv~ered r e g a r d i n g
-khz major a . d n i n i . s t r a t i v e problems encoun te red by
3 c : l co l ad rn i r r i s t ro to r s i n Imo S t a t e t e a c h e r t r a i n i n g
For t h e t h r e e r e s e a r c h q u e s t i o n s , t h e
- r h r ana:.:rsed t h e d z t a c o l l e c t e d u s i n g t h e -
c ~ l c w i n g c r i t e r i a :
Any i tem w i l l be a c c e ~ t e d i f i t i s r a t e d
''Yes" by 50% o r inore c f a l l t h e respondents. This
v ~ i l l deterr:ij_nt? t h e e x t e n t t o which t h e assumed
probl-ens hamyor e f f e c t i v e a d n i n i s t r a t i v e p r q c t i c e s
i n Imp ? t ~ ~ t . e Teacher&' Col-legcs. Below i s t h e
i l l u s t r q t i o n :-
N = T c t d number c f resncndcnts useJ i n t h e
Study ,
F = Frequency (Number of responses from t h e s u b j e c t s
on e ~ c h i t em i n t h e ques t i onna i r e ) .
= Percen t~ .ge of responses from each o f t h e i t e n s
i n t h e ques t i onna i r e .
Th is i s c a l c u l a t e d by t h c formu1ar:-
CHAPTER FOUR
DATA ANALYSIS AND RESULTS
This fourth chapter deals with analysis of data
collected by means of questionnaires. Three sets of
questionnaires were structured; one for the
Principals of Teacher Training Colleges, the next for
the Classroom Teachers and the third for the principal
officials of the Ministry of Education and the State
Education Board. Of the 14 questionnaires dietributad
to the Principals of Schools, twelve were collected,
and of the 178 distributed to classroom teachers, 136
were collected and finally, of the 9 and 8 distributed
to the officials of the Ministry of Education and State
Education Board, 6 and 7 questionnaires were collected
respectively.
ANSNERING THE RESEARCH QUESTIONS
Question One:
This first question ashwhether financial handicap
hampers effective administration of Teachers Colleges
in Imo State School System. The responses to questions
in the questionnaire by the principals of T.T.Cs will
help to prove this research question.
Lcolring zt Tnble one above w e could x o t i c e 4 . ,. . . > n a t an cnic;v.nt o f money r ang ing Between Ea1,000 ,?nd
I
%?0,000 as g r n n t Ivns made n v a i l a b l e t c t h e T. T. Cs .
S ~ s e d on t h e populn t ion of t h e school by t h e
Federql Government between 1976 and 1979. And
t ha t from 1980 - 1984 no cuch g r m t w a s given t o
the Colleges.
bout eighty-cix percent (86% represents t h e
responses of t he pr incipals of Teachers Colleges
who received such grantso The s m e percen-tage
a l so continued that no such g r m t s were msde t o
'these ~ c h o o l s since 1980 being the period of
c i v i l i a n adminis'tra-tion under Shelm Shagari.
&UESTION TWO
The second research p e s t i o n asks i f l ack of'
inf pas-truc-tural f a c i l i ti es off ec-bs t h e smooth
running of Teacher Training Colleges i n Imo State. The
responses of Pr incipals t o t h e questionc asked i n the
quss'tionnaire w i l l help t o t e s t this ~ a a o n d question.
57 TABLE 13:
Provision of Major Infrastrmc-tural F a c i l i t i es I n Imo S ta te ~ e a c h e r n ' Colleaeg
Major Inf rasLructures
Classrooms
Toi le t f a c i l i - t i e s
Playgrounds
Science laborxt o r i es
Teaching a id s
Textbooks
E quipp ed Staff - room
Confr mc e h a l l s
Dinning h a l l s
Pr incipals Responses
Teachers Rmponses
A look a-t t h e above tab le reveal^ the posiLion
of infras- t ruc- turd f a c i l i t i e s i n our Teacher
Training Colleges. Apar't from classroomfi, oea'bs md
science laborator ies wliich represent 55% , 67% and
72% resronses respectively, -the r e s t of -the
inf pas-tructureo have very low p erc en'tage reoponoeo
which indic a t eslh'L ouy Teacher Training Colleges
a re ill-equipped. . The fnci l i ' t iea worn-t h i t a re
transport f a c i l i - t i e s and teaching aids with zero
p erc en-t ag e responses from Principals
20% responses respec-tively *om -the teachers.
&UESTION TiBEE
The t h i r d research question seeks t o know
whe'tker %he ro les played by the Ministry of Educa-Lion
and 'the S-ta-te Educa-Lion Bosrd i n cchool adndnis-trn'tion
of TeachersColleges i n Imo Statee Responses of -me
Principal o f f i ce r s of %he Minis-try of Educa-tion m d
-the St,-,-te Blucn-Lion Board w i l l help t o answer t h i s
th i rd queslion.
TABLE I11
Major Roles played by the Ministry of Educn-tion
and %he S-Late Education Board i n school admini s t ra t ion :
Major Roles of Ins-t i - tut ions
Forrrmla-t ing Education Pol ices
Giving G r m - t ~ t o Scliool Boards
Set t ing and marking exams
Giving Gran-t s -Go Schools
Curriculum Develop- men-t
Appoin-hen-t of Pr inc ipa l and Teachers
Promotion of T esching S'I;df
Supsrvision, d i sc ip l in ing of -I; eachsrs
Incpm-tion of schools -
Pr inc ipa l Officer: Responses i n t h e Mini s t r y of Educ a t i on
Pr incipal Off icers Responoes in -the S'l;aLe Education Board
w = - O = P * - . I I . z _
Major Roles of Ins-tiLu-tions
Payment of S t a f f
Se lec t ing Candida-tes i n t o T.T,Cso
Supply of Equipment
$e% -Ling s-t mdnrds t o be a%-tained by t h e schools
M c ~ ag em en-t and main-tenace of schools
Budge -t c Revi ew
Giving approvalc f o r suspension and D i srni s a l of s tudent s
Promot ion of s'l;ucTe-l;ns t o new c l a s s e s
App0intmen-l; of members of Board of Governors Lo schools
Table th ree above speaks f o r i ' t s e l f . The
bu lk of t h e school manag ernen-t ,and admini s-t r a t i o n
i s c a r r i e d out by t h e S t a t e lHuc,?Lion Boardo
The major func t ions or r o l e s of each of 'Glle two
ins-tiLu-Lions are ind ica ted by the number of
reopcnsee of 'the Pr incipal Off ic ia l f i which a r e
a l ~ o rep esent ed by t h e i r percentage equivalents.
From -the 'table -the responces proved t h a t
'the key ro lea played by the MFnis-try of Educa-tion
a r e f EW while 'those of 't he S t a t e Education Board
a r e may. T h i s chows t h a t the bonrc? p lays more
r o l e s than t h e ?dinin-try.
The dz-ta c l n ~ l y ~ e d deal with -the resul ' ts
obtained by ancwsring 'the research questions.
The questions cover -three aspects of 'the adminic-tra-
t i v e problems, tkamely, f i nanc i a l handicap,
adequacy i n t he provision of infras't ruclurec and
the role-relat ionship be-tween *the pol icy makers
md t h e p r inc ipa l s of schools, The t h r e e 'tables
provided have help ed 2; o i n t erp re 't e -the data through
renponsss which determine the resu l t s . H i g h
perc en-tzge response determine8 pos i t ive r e s u l t
while low perden'tzge rsoponse on t h c o-ther hand
de't ermines negative r e s u l t Reasons f o r e i t h e r t h e
high o r low percentage resul- ts a r e no t dea l t with
T h i s has been ca re of' by t h e
sect ion deal ing with -the discussion of rs sul-to.
From t h e responses, on6 sees -that much money
was being a l loca ted .to t h e sclio o l s , especirslly
during -the period of -the UY3progrrme, When -the
c i v i l i a n governmen't se-t in towards -the a d of' 1979,
.bliings s t a r t e d -to ch,mge ns t; resul't of' $lie global
scclnomic recension. &I; -the -terminr;tion of t h e WE
school g r an t s became draa ' t ica l ly reduced 'to no f ixed
amoun-t by -the S'tnt e Governmen'tc. The oize of 'the
school l a rge ly de't ermined -the subventions -to
schools, The respondan.(;s agree t h s t both %he Federal
,and the S-tzte Governmat a mzde some money
ava i l ab l e t o T. T . C s Y but t h a t ' this money was
inadequate 'to mnks both a d o mcc-t i n t h e
ailminis-bration of scliools.
&&JESTION I:
T h i s quss-tion which seeks 'to know i f l ack
of su f f i c i en t M d helps 'to weaken t h e
adminis-trc-Lion of TencherP s Colleges i n 'the
S t a t e i s upheld by -the r e su l t s of t he findings,
The of the inveo-tigat ion revealed
'that 't lie m u a l gr,m-t alloca.tionc t o Teacher
Training Colleges between 1976 ,and 1983 were
inadequate, AmOun-tn of money mnging bstween one
thousand na i r a (BI ,000) ten thousmd n s i r a
(HI 0,000) were made ava i l sb l e -to heads of schools
direc-t from t h e Federal Governmen-l; f o r the
main-t a a n c e of sclio 01 s , AILhougli 'the amounts
seemed subs t a in t i a l , 'they were insufficien-t f o r
t l is proper ca re of -the schools, It could be
reca l led 'that t h i s period wi-tnessed 'the laudable
Universal Primary Education (UPE) when so much
money due -to -the t h a o i l boom i n Nigsria was
being pumped i n t o ochoolo -to make t h e scheme
successful. I n 'the hmdo of a few caref'ul school
heads, -tlze money was wisely used f o r maintaining
cchools. Some school headri' m i ammaged t h e money
i n various ways ranging from embezlemen-t -to
misplacema-t of p r i o r i t i e s a s were rcvcaled by
the govesnmen't audi'bors who were l a t e r sent t o
inspect -the accounts i n 'the d i f f e r en t schoolc.
From 1982 when -the Federal Government ceased
i'ts f i n c n c i a l a ids -to Teachers' Colleges, throughout
t he federa l ion , many S-ta'tes including Imo State,
beg,m t o introduce payment of f ees i n schools
which publ ic ly proved the f a i l u r e of 'the Universal
Free Primary &lucs-tion, During t h i s period mmy
S t a t e s collec-Led sc l~oo l f e e s from 'the pup i l s with
diffesen-t names o r t i t l e s . For example, i n Anambra
S t a t e it was c a l l e d equipment fees , Here t h e r e
arose a conflic-t over f i nanc i a l con t ro l between
schools md the school manaement boards. In Imo
S-ta-te, T. T. c s o pa id s ~ x t y n a i r a ( ~ 6 0 ) a s
tu i - t ion f ee s ,dn tc r which ezch school head was
authoriced t o kecp about Len n a i r a (~610) from -the
f ee s paid by each pup i l a s running cos t f o r t h e ocllools.
School heads were ins-tmc-ted t o use t he money t o
defray minor debts of t h e i r schools including
hoummas~ters, Science teccherc
allowmcec, as well a o running
md annual leave
t h e school, The
amoun't WG s -too meagre -to achieve -the above - * I
expeetat ions.
A s a r esul-t of t h e i n a b i l i t y of mhoolo 'to
meet the demads, many s c b o l s began -to owe t h e i r
Teachers ' their annual l e svs allowance. I n course
of 'time the E6.10.00 per c h i l d w a s reduced -to t h ree
na i r a ( ~ 3 ) per chi ld under t h e same condition o-t i l l .
With 'the r i s ing cost of l iv ing 'the amcunt when
collec.tsd beczme too small even -to pay for minor
s-taLionaries For 'the schc.01. With t h i s l i t ' t l e sum
heads of schosils s'tnrted 'to experience f inanc ia l
d i f f icu l t i en . I n t h e Teacher Training Colleges
'te,-,chers wlio conducted 'the prac t i c a1 % eac hing
exLunina-Lions f o r -their schools could not be paid t h e i r
usual ,dlow,mc es f o r -the teaching pract ice . Their
teachers equslly faced 'the problem of disccimj3ortc
owing 'to such deprivation of r ights . Teachers
residen-tisl quarters i n 'the scliool compounds were
nost renova-ted,mmy o f -the quarters s t i l l lacked
basic f a c i l i - t i e s such ss l a t r i n e s , bathrooms,
ki'tolicns, boys quarters , etc . Individual teachem
embarked upon making f o r -themselves major and
minor r epa i r s of t h e i r l i v ing quar-tero, repainting .
t h e i r houses, digging new p i t l a t r i n e s , buying
metres f o r t h e i r buildingr; - a l l i n a b id -to
fiecuring minimum cornfort f o r themselves all a-t
-Llieir own personal expense which ne i the r t h e w11oc;l
nor t h e school board cc~uld be prepared t o refund.
Al'though laudable s'truc-tur s s were provided by
t h e f ederal governmm.t i n .tescherst colleges
during -the inception o f the UPE, ins-talla-tionc of
%he modern e l e c t r i c a l appl5,mees have no% been up
$111 today possible. Consequently students were
compelled t o go 'to local s-tresms -to f e t ch
water f c : r t l i c i r cooking, t h e cooks had to use f i r e -
wood a d not gas cooker f o r t h e cooklng ,ad the
s t u d ~ ~ ' b o had a l so to use p4-t l r - t r i n e s m d papers - o r s t i c k s f o r cleaning. Many of the modem
equipmat were seen r u ~ t i n g away because of lack of
use and -the absence of care-takers, such as t h e
l ab attendan-ts, plan-t a-t%endants t o -take core of
the minop e l e c t r i c a l f a u l t s i n -the school, o r t he
carpen-ter f , , r minor repa i r s I n -tlic clamrooms and
teachers quarters.
67 * I Under t h i s f inancial conslrapint b ~ t h the studen-!; :;
and t h e i r -t enchers were never happy i n d i ocharging
t h e i r du-ti es as -t enchers d r students. Principals
on -the other hand found i t diff icul-t if not impossib:lc:
t c enforc e strong d i scipl ine among -the student s anc?
'the teachers. The si'tua-t ion was made more d i f f icul-t
a s neither the PTA nor the Government could meet
the basic demmds of the teadhers such as regular
payment of salaries. Thic str ingent measures
fur ther deprived teachers nnd pupils from putt ing in
t h e i r best tvhile -the principals themselves found i t
hard -to main-t ain effective admini st rat ion in 'their
G C ~ O O ~ S *
The N i g e r i , ~ conference o f Principals
of Teacher Training Colleges meeting a t I r e t e
T.T.Co near Owerri i n Imo State recently cal led
on the Federal Government Lo take up the funding
of Primary and Teacher muca-tion i n -the country a s
a step -towards alevia-ting -the sufferings of the
Pr incipals who are engaged i n school administra.tion
as well a s achieving a quali-ta'tive education f o r
Niger%, This c a l l a t t he Federal level was an
indication -tha.l; -the poor f i n m c i a l posit ion of
Temhers colleges was -the same i n a11 S'ta'tes, but
worse i n Imo State because of i t s peculiar problem of
thick popula-tion as weel a s i'tn being -the most hit
in. the lao-t c i v i l war, I t s Teachers Collegeo which
were being reactivated by %he federal government had
since been abandoned and neglec-bed, thereby creaLing a
heavy f inancia1 burden on Imo State Government, hence
Llie recent maon retrenchment of unqualified teachers.
The f i n m c i a l constraint now a f f i l i c t i n g the Imo
State Teachers Colleges could also be blamed on the
f ac-t that 'the S%aLe had more schools than it could
comfor-tsbly maintain. In other words the school
popuz-tion had gone beyond i t s op-timum s ize which again
had merging schools during i%s
recent excrciss on ra-l;ionaliza'tion of school sys-t em i n
the S'ta-te. There i s no dmb-t -that the f inmc2al base
13 'the only source through which org,m~sa'l;ional g o a h
could be reached, Training insti- tutions are not
excluded from t h i s analysis and so where a school i a i n
a f in .ancid mess, the adminis'tra'tors c w o - t effect ively
P ~ W Sh&r edmintstratSve roles.
Ln order t o make room fo r eff ec-tive school
administrn-tion i n our schoolc e s p a c i d l y the Teachers
Collegen the governmen-t should from 'time 'to time make
a subs-tmtial grant -to schools and concluct r egu la r
checlco on 'the use of such money. The Pr inc ipa l with
a ctPang Tin,u?cial backing w i l l o b v i o u ~ l y improve
upon his aclminis'tra'tive ro le , s ince he could -then
ensure a comfortable working environment f o r his or
he r o-Gaff,
Responsefi from m,wy of t h e t eachers however
show Lhz2.t some p r i n c i p a l s of schools spend g rea t e r
p a r t of 'the s l i o o l g r m t on i r r e l e v a n t -things thus
ninplacement of p r i o r i t i e s af lecLed t h e i r mode of <.
zccounting. Some of -them diver'ted 'the money meant
f o r -the fichool t o . their personal 'mnk accoun-ts. Some ,
of them -too became 'too demo-l;ic i n t h e i r adminis-trative I
1 r o l e s thd t they could n o t consul t -I;heir teachers f o r
m a jro deci s ions involving spencting bu-t only agreed
with 'the scliool bursars i n ' their clubious acAbs.
T h i s queo-tion which seeks .to know if lack of
in f rao- tmc- tu rd f a c i l i - t i e s impedes -the moo-th running I I I , \
of ~ c h o o l s i s upheld by -I; he resul ' ts o f t he finding.
70
The f indlngs of -the inves'tiga't ion revealed
.t11a't e s s m t i d o r major inf r ao t ruc - tu rd f a c i l i t i e s
were lacking i n the Imo S t a t e Teacher Training
Colleges, and even tlione ava i l ab le were never
adequate f o r teaching - 1 earning ni'tua'tion. The
explanxtionn t o ' th is inadequacy were not f a r 4 etchsi..
To begin ~ i t l i , Lhs problem of i n f ran-truc-turd
inadequacy w a s brought abou'l; by 'the enlargement
o r expmsion programme embarbd hg -the Federal
Government during t h e in-l;roduction of -the W E - S : ho 01 sy s-t ems t hrouglioul t h e St a t e s of t h e
Federation were -to be enlarged, e spsc i a l l y -the
primary m d t e ~ c l i s r education.
Mmy primary school^ a r e es tabl ished t o
provide p laces f o r a11 ch i ld ren of school age
s ince 'the ob jec t ive wan -Lo e rad ica te i l l i t e r a c y i n
-the c cwlt r y . ,and old anes
t eachers f o r
i n gt i'tu-Lions
Many new T , T, C s , , were b u i l t
were enlarged -to help -brain a
t h e primary and pos't-primary
a l l over t h e Federa-tion. A't t h i s .
-Lime 'teaching aidn m d o the r f a c i l i % i e c were of
Ugh demmd 'LQ make -teaching md adminic'tra%icn
easy, Although -the Federal Governmen-b provided
money t o t h e Stn'te, 'the UPE wac a jo int ven-ture.
The iosue of bacic i n f r s c t m c t u r d f a c i l i ' t i e s
wag made more p::ob:,emat%c: a s a r e w l - t of school
enrolma-t explosion, Ls t e r t h e problem of mak2ng
-the major inf'ras'truc-tuml f 'ac i l i - t ies avai lable to
reach all Lhc schooln aroce, Consequently, major
infroctruc-Lure s such as: clascrooms , 't rmcpor t
f a c l l i % i e s , sea-tc,, modem t o i l e t f a c i l i t i e s , -tex-tbookc,
playgroundsS other teaching a i d s 9 dormitories,
l abora tor ies e t c were inadequately provided,
Obviously, Teacher Training Colleges owned by
t h e F e d e r d Government enjcged more infrac'truc-turec
-than the Sta te owned schools. Imo S-ta-te sufTered
more i n ' this regard because of i ' tc number. In some
T. T. CG. i n -the Sta'te, fichool refec-torlec were
converted -to clasbrooms, lecsons were held under chedy
t r ee s , while improvised G-truc-turec were provided by
t h e oliucbntc ~tliemselvso Lo serve a s clasrrooms. Pi%
la ' t r ines were sunk i n place of -the modern water
cyn'tem, The c-tuden-ts i n most commwl.ilien were l ev ied
on behalf of t h e i r parents o r guardi,ms a n a meanG
of' helping t o colve 'the problem of accommodation^
With -these l e v i e s clasr,room blocks w d dormitoriec were
erec-bed. Sometimes c-tuclen-be on admi mion t o %he
Teacher Training programme provided %heir own beds,
writ ing -tables and seats . I n the absence of dinning
h a l l s 9 studen-ts a t e a t t h e i r corners i n the
dormi.torieo9 thas depriving 'them of the 'training
i n good t ab le manners.
A t -the expiration of c ix years of the UPE,
t h e Federal Government wfthdrew i t s fin'mcial ai'd t o
t h e Stake Government s9 t h e a r o l m a - t i n cchoolc
which had exceeded optimum s i ze s t a r t e d t o f a l l
because of some str ingent meacures applied by t h e
Sta-ten. Some of t h e measurec applied included,
merging o f schoolc, closing md reducing of school^
-to a reaconzble o r manageable number. At t h i c
period of auc-terity measures 'to check t h e global.
jnfla-tionary wave, governments - both Federal ,and
St,-,-tes began t o be l e s s concerned with echo01
equipmert o r infractruc-turn1 f zci l i ' t ies . They
eeemcd 'to be more concerned with meamrec 'towardc
regular payment of t h e i r workerc, emac ia l ly
-tezclierc. T h i s Wac the mot-t Peacon why workere
had -to be r e t i r e d a't the t o t a l working experience of
-thirty-f i ve years. Thece meamrec notw3+thc'tmding 9
-the number of teaching ~ ' t z f T i n Imo Sta te School
cyctem was till formedaboe ,and GO it was hoped
tha t socmer o r l a t e r other unqualified -teachem
would be expec-Led -to be l a i d off ,
Al'Lhough school enrolment had continued 'to gr
down due -to -the in-troduc-tion of heavy t u i t i o n and
boarding feeso many schools were & i l l lacking
playgrounds which we know a r e very impor'tcint f o r 'the
developmen-t of 'the s'tuden-ts phycic,d fi-tnecc. T h i s
ci-tua-Lion i c i n deed c r i t i c a l e s p a c i a l b i n a
ci-tuation where some schools C L ~ ne i the r hold
t h e i r ,annual in-ter-house compe-ti-tiono nor have
enough space f o r - thei r physical t ra ining prac'ticeo.
One could see f rom -the pr inc ipa l s and teachers
responses 'that even -though 'there ex is t strong ,and
adequa'te c las~rooms, dormi-torieo, labora-tories and
o-Lher equipmen-f i-n some of -the cchools; major
i n f r a s l ruc'tures l i k e l i g h t and wa-ter , -l;r,mspor't
f ac i l i - t i e s , -t ex-tbooks, modern t o i l e t f ac i l i ' t i e s ,
equipped staff-rooms, etc are s t i l l lacking i n many
schools.
%hey sa id a r e expensive, they complained giving
various reasons, one of which was -that t h e i r
burning in t e res t c i n %he t eaching profession had
been k i l l ed by -the way teachers a f f a i r s were being
handled by the Imo State governmen-t pa r t i cu la r ly the
i ssue of i r regular payment of -teachers sa lar ies .
We a11 know -the place of teaching aids i n 'the - school, Their absence makes learning uninterest ing
rnd monoLonous because more emplmois i s of-ten l a i d on
theory ra ther 'Lhm practice. Laziness on 'the par t of
-the 'teachers could also con-tribute t o lack of in t e res t
but summarily compmsa-tion and other fac tors of
mo-tivation c,m spur up iazy teachers md make -them
pu-t in t h e i r best -to reciproca-ts any favour done t o
-them by -their employers. T h i s was observed from the
Leschers i n Imo S-bate when -the army patd -them t h e i r
a r rears of s a l a r i e s owed them by t h e ous-bed ~ i ~ i l i E m
government. T h i s l i t - t l e ges'lure awtoma-tically changed
-t eacllers st-ti'tudes -to work wh9ch included punc'tuality
-to work, oerioumess i n the classroom, prepara'tion o f
lessonsb running personal expences f o r impmvised
teaching aidsp md a - total cornmi-tment t o -the teaching
profession,
QUESTION 3:
T h i s question which asks i f the roles played
by the Ministry o f Educa'tion and 'the State Education
Bo,ird i n -the admini st ra-ti on c f schools hmper
effec-Live school adminio'tra'tion i s upheld by the
r e su l t s of t he findings.
The findings of t h e invesAl;iga'Libn revealed 'that
the role relat ionship between -the two policy makers,
a f fec t the admini s t ra t ion of Teachers' Colleges i n
'the State, 1-1; a u l d be recalled -that before t h e
es-tablishmeh% of 'the school board^ t h e f'unc-Lions now
performed by t h e -t wo bodies were performed by a single
body - t h e Ministry of Education. For the purpoce
of decen-tralization of authority and for the proper
care of -the teachers, the Sta-te School Boards d ' t h
various names i n a l l the S-bates of 'the Federa-tion
were created. The S-tate Education Boards have t h e i r
own Direc-tors9 Chief ~ u c a t i o n Officers, Deputy Chief
Education Officers and other subordinate ofTicialo a s
dis-t inct from -those o f the Ministry of IZIuca-tion.
During -the e s't ab l i shment of the scho 01 boards
the major roles of 'the Ministry included, policy
formula-Lion; se-t-ting md maintenLance of dxndard;
77
inspect ion of cclio 01s f o p approvd , upgrading and
closure; se-t-ting ,and marking o r ex'ms, and award
of school leaving ce r - t i f i c a t e se But today, 'the
r o l e s have increased 'to development of the
curriculum, giving gr,m.l;s t o scliools and grcm-ting
requests f o r scliolarsl?jp awards and in-servic e or
study leave t o teachers wiching Lo upcia-te ' their
experiences through further s-Ludien. ,& L he o ther
hand, %lie S-Late Boards of Educa'tion were assigned
'the du-tics 'to supervise schools i n order t o maintain
the s'tmdarcio set by -the Ifinis-Lry of Educa-tion, t o
equip and mainatain schools, 'Lo recrmit m d d i s c ip l i ne I
1 I
teachers , -to appoint members of Board of Govemorn, LLc. I
-I
A s time went on ' h e boards added -to themselveo
numberous du-Lies xhich a-tLrac-ted wide public
cr i- t iciam b e c a u ~ ; of ineff ic iency i n the discharge of
Llicir c3u-Lieso For example 'the B-bate School Boarda
went a s f a r a s performing 'the r o l e s which the
p r i n c i p a l s performed during -the missionary era - such a s se-t-ting 'Lhe ccliool exams without conml t ing
some of -the specrialist 'teachers wlia a r e come'timeo
more qu,dified than -they -themselveso They a l so make
p o ~ i c i ~ s aff ec-ting schools witliout c onml-ting the
principals. The pr incipals cannot suspend my ----.---- L
chi ld wi-thou't approval from the board. Teachers a re
posted 'to mcl out of schools without due consul-Lation
w i - L h the princip,ds who should give informa-tion on -the
school's areas of need, Annual allocations are made
'to sc11001s without f irst fincling out from -the
pr inc ipa ls who only know 'the f inancial needs of the
he pr incipals of teaohers colleges a re never
inviLed -to se lec t -the ca l ibre of candidates Lo be
-trained i n t h e i r schools. Tr,msfers of teachers
could be effected without 'the knowledge of -the
pr incipals who are i n a posi-tion Lo give ,umu,d
evaluation rqor-to of t h e i r -teachers which of-ten
serve as a guide i n -the hymsfering' and retaining of
teachers, Again 'the school boards prepare -the
syllabus or the scheme of work without reference to
-the pr incipals and t h e i r teachers who a re more
famil iar with -the comrnunl-ty and i - t s needs, The
a n i s t r y and not 'the .t eacher determines who should
repeat a class and who should be promo-lied -Lo a new
class,
I n -Lliis way the principal of a school has li-l;-tle
o r no authority over his o r her pupils and 'teachers
since lie c,ulzlot ac-L independen-tly t o maintain
d i sc ip l ine i n t he school, The r e su l t i s t h e
s-buden-Ls rio-Ls which a r e a t present
charac - teri s-Lie of m a n y pos-t-primary ins t i tu t ions . / The ro l e s of 'the -Lhree au tho r i t i e s - -the pr incipal ,
'the Ministry o f Educa-Lion ,and -the S ta t e Boards o f
Education a r c not c l e a r l y defined even 'though i - t i c
-Lhe pr incipal who i s of ten made -Lhe ocape goat.
@en there i s a clash between the Ministry and
the board on which of them should con-trol 'the fees
paid by s-tuden-tso The f'unc-tions of the school
boards ware becoming -too broad t h a t eff iciency may i n
f'u-Lure be sacr i f icede T h i s is why t h e boards a l l
over 'Lhe Federation s-J-ffcr f r o m s.Lruc'tura1
n s b i l - y Mnny S'tates had several times
dissolved t h e i r school boardso
However, when 'the school i s disolvecl, -the
Mini s t r y of Ecluca'tion performs a l l 'the dut i ec
formerly perf ormcd by t h e board. Some educa'tionists
from 'Lhe Nigerian Public have badly c r i t i c i o e d 'the
corrupt ns'ture of -the boards ,and m,my have sugges'tsd
t1-v~-l; .they be scrzped off and t h e i r numerous f'unc-tions
trLmsf ered 'Lo 'the Mini s-try of Educ a t ion, Both the
Principals and the general public argue -that
schools had some s o r t of autonomy i n the past
a d that school admini st r a t ion was more eff ec-tive
i n t he hands of 'the School heads than a t presen-t,
They i n 'their argumm-t f ee l 'Ghat enlarged Ministry
o f Education could be preferred .to maintaining a
corrupt and inef f ic ien t school board. I-t i n
f'ur'ther f e l t tha t 'thc d-L ssolution of who 01
boards i s absolu-tely very necessary , par t icu lar ly
a-t t h i s period of economic recession when Nigeria
i s o-truggling .to revamp the economy. They argue that
because of Zonal and Area Oflices the inoti'tu-tion of
the School Boards i s both redund,m-t and expensive.
I n this chapter which deals with the
discussions of the reml- t s of -the findings,
highlights have been given on -the reaaons fo r -the
posi t ive resu l t s of .the research questions. For
example, when -the UPB programme star ted i n 1976,
the Federal Government ende~voured t o es tabl ish
new Teacher Training Colleges and reactivated 'the
81
old exist ing ones owned by *the Micsionaries.
New buildings m c l infras-tmcturen were added
and new land0 acquired for expmcion purposes
ac well a s Lo ease 'the problem o f accommoda'tion.
When 'the Federal Government wi'tl~drew i t a
f i n a n c i d aids -to t h e schools, S'tate Governmen-LG
took over the f i n a c i d control of -teacliero'
colleges, To be able t o maintain these schools,
f ees were imposed ,and from %his pr incipals of
sbhools were empowered -to re ta in cer ta in mount
of money as running coo-ts, The amount t o be
retained depended on the enrolment strength of -the
school, Pr incipals however complained on %he
limi-bted resources which m~de l i t t l e o r no
impact on -the proper main-t ermance of schools.
On infras t ructures , e f f o r t s were maae but
just before -the Federal ~overnmen-tf o withdrawal of
f inanc ia l aidc, schools i n -the S'ta'te had wi-tnessed
enrolment explosion tlmt it became d i f f i c u l t f o r -the
available i n f raa%ruc'tures 'to compare f avourably with
the number of pupi ls using -them, Gradually acl~ool
populaLion thinned down because of -the imposition of
~ c h o o l fees. A t present infras-tmc-t;ur;ll f ac i l i ' t i es
such as classrooms, seats , dormitories, laborator ies ,
e-to a re no longer posing much problems i n most schools
i n the r u r a l areas. Other aspects of inf rzs t ruc-hres
such GS p l ~ g r o u n d s , 'ter;ching aids , o f f ice o r adminis%-
ra'tive blocks, conference hal ls , water supplies, ' toi let
fac i l i - t ies , s taff quarters, e-tc are s t i l l lacking i n
many schools,
With regards -to role rela-tionsliip between -the policy
makers and -the principals of schools, we notice that the
heads of ~ c h o o l s a r e almos-t l e r t wi th l i - t % l e o r no
authori-by over 'their st aff md s-tudents, Schools main-
tained some sop-t of autonomy pr io r t o the establishmen-t
of school boards. Nowadays, principals of schoolo
c m o - t exercise ,my form of au-thori-ty over t h e i r pupils
hdw ~ d ~ t l y m
The school bonrds are constan-tly dissolved due -to
- their ine f f i c im0 performance of t h e i r duties, When .this
happens* t h e i r numerous du-ti es a r e usually performed by
'the Ministry of Education, Thus, heads of schools are
f requenlly exposed 'to s'tudying md aquainsting thsmselveo
with t h e managerial o r adminis-tra'tive s-tyles of e i ther
the hlinistry o r the State Board of Muca-tion. In .tho
face of dl these, principals of schools are bound
-to meet with diff icul- t ies i n 'their school administrationo
I-G i s therefore hoped -tlza.G i f c l ea r cut
roles are differen-tia'bed between the policy
make20 . ,wd -the school heado, t h i s w i l l go dong
ww -to helping principalc ps r f o r m eff'icien-Lly
in L heir acimini s-tra'tion ~ o l e s d
CONCLU SC OD
The w ~ i - t e r based h i s study on the
adminis-Lra.Lion of Teacher Training Colleges i n
Imo S'La-Le during the period of government take-
over of schools and the establishment of t he S ta te
ES~llca-tion Bonids. Before t h i s innovalion these
t ra ining colleges were established, run and
managed by the missioneries. His personal
experience a s a teacher ' trainer motiva'ted him t o
delve in to $his change of hand i n school
admini s-tm-tion.
The researcher made use of questionnaires, .F inLerviews and the l i b ra ry allfiwhich formed 'the
wo: king too l s f c -the research. Research question^
wers .Len'La-Lively foprnula'ted a s guide t o -the
collec-Lion of necessary d a t a f o r the s-tudy.
AT?-ter 'Lhe invest,igation, i t was discovered tha t
al-Lhough after sometime, schools were poorly
fin,mc ed2 heads of schools m i smmaged 'the 11-L-tle
amoun-L of money alloca-Led 'Lo them ss running costs.
A s a resu l t o r poor financing enough ins t ruc t iona l
m d in f ras-t ruc-tural f a c i l i - t i es were no t
provided by 'the S%z-t e Goverrmen-t . The inves t iga t ion B r t h e r proved 'tha't t h e
S'ta-te Education Board has -too m~my f'unc'tiona t o
perform and -that p r i nc ipz l s now have l e s s work
'to do, a s i tua- t ion which make6 them loose
authori-ty over - the i r pupilo. The school hea.ds
seem -to be receiving ins t ruc- t ions from e i t he r
of -the 'two a u t h o r i t i e s - -the Ministry of Educc-tion
and t h e S t a t e Educn-tion Board. This ind ica tes 'thzt
-the ro l e s of -the -two bodies a r e not dis-tinc'cly
marked out. Under 'Lhi s si-tua't ion pr inc iphls of
schools c m o ' t perform wel l i n admini st er ing
t h e i r instiLuLiono.
Due t o f i n m c i a l and time f a c t o r s t h e
researcher d id no-t inc lude a l l -the f a c t o r s 'thnt
cons-ti-tut e admini st r a t lve problems i n t h e
inves-tiga:tion. This i s t h e most reason why he
included a few recommends-tions f o r mr' ther
research. I n order -to help -the au-thori 'ties
concerned -to f i nd so lu t ions -to some of -these
admini s t rn ' t ive problemsp he mgges'ted messures f o r
improving 'the poor s'to-te of our schools i n t h e
S-bat c , eopacial ly -the t r a i n i n g collegeo,
From -the resu l t s of 'the inve stiga-tion
we can -therefore confirm the ea r l i e r formulated
assump-t ions and c onclude tha t effect ive
administration o f .tenclierst colleges i n Imo State
School cystem i s lacking due -to poor f inancial
managemen-t, lack of infras'truc-tures and
ins-trucetional ma%erials, and 'the conf'lic t ing role-
relationship between -the powers on policy makers.
EDUCATIONAL IMPLICATIONS
The educa-tiond implicationo of t h i c research
i s obvious f o r both t h e principals o f s l i o o l s and
-the authori-ties concerned with 'the es tabl i shmen-t
of Teacher Training Colleges i n 'the State. These
authori t ies have been blamed fo r a l l the shor-tcomings
i n school administration. he at-ti-tudes o f the c autliorities 'towards -the welfare o f -the schools
under them by ref'using 'to provide enough fund and
infras-1;ructurec fo r -the proper running of the
G 1 s have resul-bed t o -the pr incipals t
inefTectlveness i n school adminis-1;ration.
If by -this research principals a re made 'to
know -their specific roles i n terms of -their
commi-tmen-t s a s school admini s-t ra%ora, then they
would have some measure of authority over -their
s ta f f md students. When -the s t a f f and pupils see
-that -their heads have got some authoritat ive
control over them, then they would give t h e i r f 'u l l
respect -to .the school au-tho r i t y , -thereby maintaining
d isc ip l ine among -themselve so Indi acipline among
stud en-t s no doubt help a t o weaken scho 01
adminisLra'tion. This i s so because where a ch i ld
knows tha t the head teacher cannot exercise even
the l e a s t power over him such as, flogging, suspension
o r expulsion, ref'usal -to take school f'inal exam etc,
the ch i ld i s bound -to prove obstinate 'to -the school
aut ho ri-t y
With -the o f f i c i a l s who form the policy making
group, this study w i l l help them Lo formulate oome
important pol ic ies on school adminis'tra'tion, Some o f
t he cri t icisms on -their administrative ro le relation-
chips would help them t o make some adjus tmats
towards improvement,
RECOMMENDATION FOR FURTHF,R RESEARCH
For the purpose of f 'urther research by 'those who
might be inleres'ted i n carrying out fur ther reoearch
on problemo affecting effect ive admini o'tratjon of
the following mgges*tions were made:-
Indiscipl ine i n schoolo ac a major f ac to r mi l i t a-ting clgainst moot h m i n g of nchools by the pr incipals of poot-primary ins-ti-tutions.
If good performance by the ochool admini s t r a t o r a't the oec ondary scho 01 level i s a passport t o good psrformmce a t the Univerai-ty o r higher ins-ti-tu'tion 1 evel.
The which lack
po ten t i a l on t h e pa r t of t h e school
I q a c ' t of the howledge acquired ao a
pr incipal of a school o r as a head of
a te-t iary inati tu-t ion on t h e same of f i ce r
who l a t e r joins t h e Ministry o r the school
board no a policy maker o r a propriator
of a s~h001.
The e f fec t of l ack of spec ia l i s t o r
qualif ied teachers on oc hool admini stra-tion.
LIMITATIONS OF THE STUDY:
This research which ougl~t -to have been
extended t o a l l 'the Teacher Training Colleges i n
t h e Federation could not accomplish - this because,
l imi-ted .to -time, f inance m d mater ia ls , t h e re-
s e s r c l ~ e r limi-bed t he o-tudy -to a l l t h e ex i s t i ng
four-teen Teacher Training Colleges i n Imo State .
Knowing 'that F r mr-ther inves- t igat ions a r e
made, t oo m,my problems a f f ec t i ng school
administrat ion could be discovered, t he research
w s s l imi-ted t o the inves t iga t ion of t h e -three
major cnvisnged problems, namely, f inance ,
i n f r a s t ruc tu r e , ,ad r o l e differen-t ia . t ions among
the powers -that deal wi th the manapmen-t and
administrct ion of school, because 'these a r e 'the
a reas ' t h ~ t cons ' t i .htc major problems -to .Lhe school
admini s t rn'to r o e
The reaearch w n s fur-tlier limi-ted due 'to t h e
f a c t t h a t quect ionnaires which would cover a11
t h e primary and secondzry ~ c h o o l s i n 'the S'tate
would be -boo bulky f o r meLaingfUl and r e l i a b l e
work -to be accomplished. The w r i t e r was a l so of
The research pro j e s t c m serve as a reference book
-to school pr incipals who can a l w a y s make use of it t o
read 'and then know the fac-tors vrhicli con'tribute .to
weaken adminis-tra'tion jnd then be able -to guard
against -them.
To t h e ordinary 'teachers in -the rchool -the
research can be of imenoe help -to 'them since they can
always r e fe r to i - b -to ac quire -the theore-1;ical
knowledge about school admini st ra-ti on because 'they c ?in
one day ascend -to -the post of a scliool adminiotrator.
Such knowledge can mr-ther help -them -to make usefbl
sug&esLions t o those a-t the head.
If everybody in-berested in the affa i rs of -the
school including the general public knows the mecif i c
ro l e s each category of people should play f o r the i n t e r e s t
of education i n -the S-tate, -then 'the school principalfi
would not encounter m y d i f f icul-ty i n main't aining
effec-bive administration i n 'tlieir scliools. This i s s o
because ignorance on -the par t of -the school heads on
- their proper roles alao helps -to c rea ie administrative
problems i n sclioolse
t h e opinion t h c t i f proper foundation i s l a i d a t \
4Bin level, aminfa- t ra t ive p rob lam~ a t t h e higher
l e v e l s o r ino t i tu t iona would be minimined t o aome
Should the Federal Government decidea 'to t ake
WE the m d i n g of teacher education i n t h e
country, then the federa l g ran ts t o Teacher
Training Colleges ohould be made d i r ec t t o
t h e cchoolo ra ther than ~ u c h grclnto p a ~ o i n g
through the Minictry of Education or the
S t a t e Education Board.
head^ of Schoolo who embezzle achool money
should be mads t o ref'und the amount so embezzled
or be d imisned from semriee.
Pr incipalo of ~ c h o o l ~ fihould be rmb3euted t o
regular audit ing t o check high r a t e of r
m i capprop r i a t i on of fundo.
Based on t h e po ten t i a l working populcl'tion of
t he S t a t e every c i t i z e n ohould be made 'to pay
education levy i n order t o provide fund f o r
t h e adequate Rznding of ochoola in t he State.
5. Imo S ta te fihould entabl iah 'Education
Development Bank which could lend money
f o r important Education pro jec-to.
6. Launching of Education m d a m t Fund i f i
aloo a necessary step f o r t he r a i ~ i n g of
f'undo f o r 'the a%lrrrtersnrr~co of cchoolo.
7. The S-tate Education board^ &ould be
diosolved f o r ' their i ne f f i c i en ty and t h e
Mini o t ry of Education -to t ake over t h e i r
d u t i e ~ 3 o i n 'the past.
10. Eyre, E, C o p &~,t=inp; B&c-mg&g&g-&, London, -the MacMillim Press L i m i t ed, 1982.
Institute of Educa-t ion, Universi
.12* Fiedler , Fred E. "A contingency Model of Leadership I
Effec-tiveo" ~ * % V Q , C - ~ Social P s p h o l o + Exlo v r " f :T% e'w?! r AC ad e
13. Ifughes, Larry, W; Ubben, Gerald C. Recon- Boston: Allyn
17. M b i t i , Do "General Theory of ~drninis ' trotion" Foundat - - ----- ion -.n o * - o r,r f J&~Ao~o_la in i . t - , I
Oxford University Press , Nairobi, I i977.
I I
18, Morphetp El Lo eL ctl, ~ ~ ~ & i ~ n t l ~ O ~ ~ ~ s i i _ O , n , p ~ d Adrn~n&- t ; _ r , - t i on Conc m.t s , - Prac-tices, Issues , New York: P rm- t i c e H a 1 1 Inc, mglewood C l i f f 8,
New Jeresy, 1974.
19. Nyerere, J. K. Educz.tion For S~_lf"relimca, Dar e s Salam, Publ. Miniamtry of Information ,and Tourism, 1967,
20. Nwogu, J. &mi& -to Ef'fective Supervision of InaLruction In Nigerian Schoo&. Four'bh Dimenoion Pub. * Co. Lt-d. , Enugu, Nigeria , 1980.
21. Ojelabi , Adenkule. $ guide 'to I_UI-- School Mmu emen-t. Nigeria. Valu'ba Educa'tional Publ i shers , I 981.
22. Persons, T, $-true-Lure m d Proceos I n Modern o c i e t i e - Tew York: The Free Mm
Press , - 1 9 0.
23. Rosenotengel, W. E. and Eao'tmond, J. N. Scho0.1 Ronald Preoa Coy, New York:
24. Simon, H. A., Adminis-trctive Behmiour, New York, Free P r e s s , 1965.
25. Tosi and Carol l , Mmc.emenmt: Con-tiaencieg, S'trmc .Lure and Proc ecn , John Wiley & Sons, New York, 1 97c.
26. Tabe, Hilda: Curriculum Develosmen-b: Theory, g ~ d P r a c t i c e , New York, Harcour't Brace J o v m i t h , 1962,
27. Wal-ton, John. Administrr ,- t~n-ad P o l i c ~ n , Bal-timore:
I 969.
q b Imogi, I, ItTo Ehsure Be t te r W B C Result t f Observer, Oc-tober;,.25, 1975 , P.25
2, Ozigi, Ao 0. tfPopula-tion E&plor;ion I n School 'Enrolmenttt , New Nigeria, September 5, 1979, P O 200
3. Wlgwe, F, and V?alip Hafiz, "National ~eacher r ; ' Ino.l;ifxLet c Launching of Dist,mce . - - Learning Programmett, Daily Timeab Lagos, Nigeria , Apri l 21 1984, P e l
4. Jongo, E o 0. , "Towards At-talning @mli-thtive and f'unc .t ional Muc a-l; i on I t , _Sundn;v 3-t a t esrnan , March 24, 1985, PS 8.
C@NmRENCl$&JND GOVE.RNIVEET PUBLI CATIONS ----
I. Anyanwu, S. B. C. ' tConferace of Pr inc ipa l s of Teacher Training Collegestt, Calabar, Nigeria, 1981.
2 , Fafunwa Babs A. "The Purnose of Teccher ~duca-t ion ' ' , Report of ~ a t i o n ~ l Curriculum conr erenc 6 'i7 - I2 September, I 9a, Lagos: Federal Republic of Nigeria, Ministry of Education, 4970.
3R O b a ~ m j o , Olusegun, "Conference & Workshop on Disc ipl ine i n nchools", o f P r inc ipa l s of Secondary Schools, T.T.Cs. and Federal Schools of A r t s and Science, Ju ly 12, 1 9 7 7 ~ University of Lagos - NNDC Report.
4. Udoh, S. U.-. "The Role of t h e Secondary School Pr inc ipa lo i n curriculum Developma-t and Improvemen-t ' I ,
Paper presented a t In t e r - na t iona l Curriculum Conference, Jos, 1982,
5. East Central Shtc.Le o f Nigeria: mb& of Sc ho 01 Admini o.l;ral;crLon, Enugu, Government P r i n t e r I 975.
6. Federal Republic of Nigeria, National Policy 2n-F~ a t i on , Pub. Federal Mini s-try of In%maet i on, grin-Ling Divioion, Lagos.
7. Federal Re
1965, Federal Ministry of Informa-tion, Prin-t ing Division, L a o s , 19650
Federal R epublic of Nigeria: w o r t of the &b,ia Commi-t-tee on Grading of Duty Pos t s I n Vo-taw Ae: - enc .~ Ino-ti-GuLionb Federal Minis-try of Informa-tj-on, P r in t i ng Division, Lagos, 1 967.
Akabogu, George, "The Role met-tatlono of t h e Public of -the East Central Sta te of Nigeria of t he Pr inc ipa l of Secondary Grammar School", M. Ed. Deoser-ta-tion, U n i v e r ~ i t y of Nigeria, Nouklca, 1972.
mbuniwe, J. No "The Role of the Nigerian Secondary School Princi-oal I n Curriculum -
1rnpovemen-ttt , M. Ed. Thefiio, University of JOG, N i g e r i a , ~ 983.
0. , "An Invectiga'tion In to the General Administro'tion and Organisation of the Ful l Secondary school^ and Higher Elernentory Teacher Training Ins-ti-tu-biono i n West ern Nigeria", 14. A. Thesic, (syncuse 1951).
F 4 p ' D I X I
Names of Imo S t a t e ~ e n c h e r a ' Collagec
f o r 'Lhe atudy: - Women Training College, Afikpo
St. ~ o o e p h ~ a TerLcher Training College, Aba
Teacher Training College, Azaraegbelu
Teacher Training College, Ehime
Teacher Training College, Egbema
Bishop Laobry T.T.C., Ire-te
Teacher Training College, I h i e
Maceregor Tescher Training College, Afilqm.
Teacher Training College, NGU
Biohos Shmahm To To C., Orlu
Teacher Training College, Uzunkoli
Teacher Tsaining College, Uturu
Women Training College, Umucihia
Teacher Training College, Umud-i
1 St. J o n e p h ' o Abn
1 T.T.C. .J3hime
T.T.C. %bemu
T.T.C. I r e t e
i 4 T.T.Cw NsU I I B,S.T.C. O r l u t i [ T.TwC. Uzuenkoli ! ? T.T.C. U-turn d 1 W.T.C. Umunhin 1 4 $ T.T.C. Umudi
1 M i n i s t r y of E d u c a t i o n
II 1 S-t a t c &luc at ion B o a r d
Local Govsmmen-t Area of t h e tescher: ............. .................................. Name of achool:.
Rmk of teacher:. ................................. ...................................... Na'tionality:
Sex:..*. .......................................... ........................... wdi f iae~ion( f i )~ . , . . . .
Area of Sub jec-t specialica'tion: .................e~ What extra cu r r i cu l a r aast ivi ty do you ho3.80. .....a
Indica't e your rela-tionahip with the achool o r 8.t af f : ( Tick e / ;
( a ) T h e p r inc ipa l delega-tea du-bi en Lo teachers
(b) The pr inc ipa l bel ieves i n oonml-t a t io;l r--'~ i---I-
( c ) The pr inc ipa l i o app~oachable md r - i a good mixer, I
(d) He supervises uo while teaohing and make6 mggeo'tiono dt -t he end through *-- Pa-therly cX counoiona ~~~
(e) He digcuof; es -teacher6 pmbl emo individual ly md makeo mgge atione towards so;-u-tions, i
(f) H e holda regular meetinga with 'teacherc
(g) He encaurageg f i e l d t r i p o
(h) He provide8 teaching f ac i l i - t i e c
( i ) H e disburses the school gr,mto 1 ' w i ~ e l y
( j) H e comploino of l a c k of money always L
and overlooks major repairs i n the school 1 ~ z . l
(k) H e i~ Q ~ W Q Y S glow i n making recomnendationo f o r major ochool equipment.
10, Do you a t t a d 'the s'taff meetingfi regularly? @ ---I !- 1 I . Do you n'btend the PTA meetings regularly? -.- I--J
13. If the p r inc ipa l does not p u l l hisher weight f'inancinlly, suggeat a reason f o r h i s h e r m-tiono
14. From your obcervetion and experieno.e i n the school, do you th ink -the p r i n c i p a l is performing efficiently
.15. If .24 above is No, give one o r more reasons f o r hi6 poor parfo rmance and suggest measures f o r improvement:
16. Do you th ink your ochool has good rels- t ionship with e i t h e r the Ministry of Education o r t h e S3ta't.e
17. If 16 above is No, w h a t is t h e cause:.. .am......m.
.................................................. Th,?nlc you,
SECTION 'A' MINISTRY OF EDUCATION OFFICIALS 0
I. Rank of Officer:, .......... . m m e e . e e m . e e D e e e o e m e
3. How many years have you served i n t h i s
4. Sex: Male Female -1 ( t i c k 4 1-
Which o f these ro les below does your H n i s t r y
perform? ( ~ i c k &
6. Formula-tlng Education po l i c i e s
7. Giving grants 'to schools
8, Qiving grants t o school boards
I Curriculum developmen-t
11 . Select ion and appointmen.t of p r inc ipa l s a d teachers
2 2. Promotion of -t eaching s t a f f
13. Sum ension, d i sc ip l in ing md dismissal of 'teacherc
14. Award of scholarohips and granting in-servic e -to 't eachera
15. Inspection of schools
16. Approval and clocing schools
17, Payment of s t a f f s a l a r i e s and o ther benefi-tc
18. Selec-t ing cclndida-t es i n t o TTCs
19. Supply of 'tex'tbooks t o schools
20, Supply of ewuipmen-t and 'their mainl enmc e
21, 00-ordinathg t h e a c t i v i t i e s of t h e ochoolo and school board^
22. If the above ' t a ~ k o are not comprehenoive, could you please s t a t e specifically other role^ played by the Imo State hfinistry of ~ & i a m :
23. Fpom your urperienee do you think the Mhio t ry hh performing efficiently?
24. If no. 23 above i o No, ouggest any measure fo r imp rovernent .
25. Is t he re any occasion %hat t h e Miniamtry may have overlapping rolec? Be b r i e f m d specif LC:
.-
How many yearc h ~ v e you ~ ~ r v e d in t h i s
Which of these flulctkona below doso your
Board perform? ( ~ i c k L/)
Appoin-tmm-t of teachers and princ i p d a
Promo-Lion, t r m a f ering and disciplining
n of -t eacher fi m Acser;amen.t and payment of teachers
a d a r i e n
Awarding ncholar&iprr and granting
in-cervi ce -to -L;eacherse
Management, repa i r s , md maintenmce of Educ a-tional Inst iLutionc in .the Sta te , 0 Review of budget6
42. C ~ o r d i n a t i o n of l o c a l government plmc a 1 Apart from t h e above func t ions a r e t h e r e
o ther ones which t h e board performs but
z r e not covered? Sta-te them b r i e f l y :
-r--
14, From your experience, i~ t h e board
performing e f f i c i e n t l y ?
45. If 14 i~ No, suggest a major conct ra in t o r
my s t r a t egy f o r improvement: